BIRDS. 99 



the cook had thrown overboard ; were shy and difficult to shoot. Full- 

 grown young of this species were shot in the first days of September ; 

 these were even darker than the young of L. argentatus, the primaries 

 and tail being very nearly black. 



66. Larus marinus, Linn. 



Nayardluk," Greenlanders. 



Observed in Cumberland only in late autumn 5 cannot ascertain that 

 they breed there ; quite common on the Greenland coast form 63 to 70 

 X. hit. Abundant in October on the South Labrador coast and New- 

 foundland. Hundreds daily frequent St. John's Harbor, Newfoundland. 



67. Larus argentatus, Briinn. 

 "Xowyah," Cumberland Eskimo. 



Not uncommon in Cumberland, and breeds to lat. 67 N. A mere 

 straggler on the Greenland coast. Specimen shot June 20 in Cumber- 

 land contained ova as large as buckshot. 



68. Pagophila eburnea, Gni. 

 "Xavauarsuk," Greenlanders. 



Very common in Kingwah Fjord and vicinity just before it froze up, 

 for a few days only. None seen in spring. Does not breed in Cumber- 

 laud. By no means common on the Greenland coast. The food of those 

 I examined consisted of small crustaceans. I saw one trying to swallow 

 the icing of a Som. mollissima that the cook had thrown overboard, when 

 I shot it. The wing was so lodged in the oesophagus that it would cer- 

 tainly have choked the bird had it not disgorged. Those that visited 

 our neighborhood seemed to have a very decided preference for meat. 

 I once saw three or four alight on a seal that had just been killed, and 

 attempt to get at the flesh. They are easily decoyed within shot by 

 strewing pieces of meat on the ice. Were one of the most abundant 

 and greedy birds around a whale carcass that had been killed in the 

 vicinity. The specimens I procured that were nearly in adult plumage 

 had a greenish yellow bill at base and bright yellow tip, with no dusky 

 markings; the younger birds only had the bill clouded with dusky. 

 There appears to be a marked difference in the size of the sexes, the 

 female being one to two inches shorter than the male. 



69. Rissa tridactyla, Linn. 



"Xowavah" (Little Xowyak), Cumberland Eskimo. "Tattarat," or "Tatarak," 

 Greenlanders and Eskimo about Frobisher Straits. 



The kittiwake was first noticed in the Straits of Belle Isle, on our 

 outward passage, the 18th of August, 1877. From this point northward 



