122 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



by Bagg, Auk, volume ii, page 162. Mr Truman R. Taylor has noticed 

 it as an irregular migrant in Monroe county. 



The Kittiwake is holarctic in range, breeding from the Gulf of St 

 Lawrence to 80° north latitude. Its name is derived from the call notes 

 which resemble the syllables kitti-aa, kitti-aa. It is more pelagic in haunts 

 than any of our other species. 



Larus hyperboreus Gunnerus 



(Larus glaucus on plate) 



Glaucous Gull 



Plate s 



Larus hvperboreus Gunnerus in Lecm, Beskr. Finm. Lapper. 1767. p. 22 (note) 

 La r u s g i a u c u s A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 42 



larus, Gr. Xdpo? Lat. lar'us, gull; hyperho' reus , Lat. northern 



Description. Adult in summer: White, the mantle very pale pearl-hlue; 

 I^rimaries all white, or extremely pale pearl-gray, fading to white at the 

 tips; bill chrome yellow with a vermilion spot at the angle; feet pale flesh 

 color, or yellowish; iris yellow; eyelid vermilion; mouth flesh-color. In 

 winter: Head and neck slightly varied with brownish. Second winter: 

 Pure white, sometimes with trace of the brown bars and mottlings character- 

 istic of the first winter, sometimes with a trace of the adult plumage ; bill 

 flesh-colored with dusky tip. First winter: Dingy white, profusely marked 

 with pale huffy brown or drab gray, the markings being coarse bars and 

 mottlings on the back and wing coverts, obscure streaks on the head and 

 neck, obscure bars and fine mottlings on the wings and tail; under parts 

 nearly uniform pale brownish or drab gray; legs and bill flesh color, the 

 latter tipped with black; iris brown; the primaries "ecru drab" varying to 

 dull white. The plumage gradually fades during the winter, becoming 

 very light toward spring. 



Length 26-32 inches; extent 60; wing 16. 7-1 8. 7 5 ; tail 7.4-8.5 ; bill 2.3-3 ! 

 gape 3.75; depth of bill at angle .8-1 ; tarsus 2.4-3.25; middle toe and claw 

 2.65-3. Immature birds have the smaller dimensions. 



The white phase of this gull is Larus hutchinsii of earlier 

 writers and probably the L. arcticus also. According to Dr D wight 

 [Atik 23 : 30-34] birds of the third winter sometimes show the plumage which 

 is most characteristic of the second year, and sometimes birds of the second 

 winter possess the mantle and white body feathers of the adult. 



