695 



chooses to place it amongst lofty cliffs, on narrow 

 ledges or inaccessible pinnacles of rocks. " The 

 nest itself is composed of a layer of mud at the base, 

 on which is laid a thick matting of dry campion- 

 stalks ; it is lined with shreds of grass and sea- 

 weed. The foundation of this nest appears to be a 

 permanent structure, as the Kittiwake does not build 

 a hew nest every year, but partly demolishes the old 

 one, and adds fresh dry weeds." * 



Like all Gulls the Kittiwake varies much in 

 plumage, according to its age and to the time of 

 year. The young bird has the bill black ; the whole 

 of the head and neck white, except a spot of black 

 on the ear-coverts and some hair-like black feathers 

 under the eye ; round the lower part of the back of 

 the neck is a band of black which reaches to the 

 sides of the breast ; between this and the back is a 

 band of white ; the back and scapulars are gull-grey, 

 some of the longer scapulars tipped with white ; the 

 lesser wing-coverts are black, making a broad black 

 mark from the point of the wing to the tertials ; the 

 tertials are gull-grey, tipped with white, and some of 

 them marked in the centre with black ; the primary 

 quills are black, except a long patch of white on the 

 inner web ; the shorter quills are tipped with white 

 also, and the other light parts are more inclining to 

 grey than white ; the tail is white, with a broad black 



* ' Zoologist ' for 1868 (Second Series, p. 1367). 



