SDfi THE FUH SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



36. Rissa tridactyla poUicaris Stojii. i[SS. Kidgw. Pacific Kittiwakc " Chornii-naiishlic Cmc- 

 roosJiic." 



Larua irUlacUjla, Coinde, Kov. et Mag. Zool., 18()0, 40L 



Larm tridactyla var. kotzebui, Coues, iu Elliott's Ivpt. Alt'. Alaska, 1«73; JleprtuI, 1!^75, lilit. — 



Elliott, Mon. Seal Ids,, 1882, 132. 

 Jiissa tridactyla 2>ollicaris, Tuuneu, Cou. Nat. Hist. Alaska, 188G, 124.— A. O. U. Cli. List, 1895, 



16.— RiDGWAY, Mau., 1896, 25.— Nelson, Bds. Alaska, 1887, 49. — Townsend, Cruise, ('orwin, 



1887,98. 

 7i'[M8a] tlridactylay kotzehuii, Coues, Key, 1890, 748. 

 Rissa tridactyla, Saunders, Cat. H. Br. Mas. XXV, 1896, 305 (part). 



"This gull breeds here by tens of thousands, in company with its first cousin, 

 Lartis \ Rissa] brerirostris, coming at the same tinu^, but laying a week or ten days 

 earlier than its relative. * * * In building its nest it uses more grass and less 

 mud cement than the brerirostris does." — {Elliott.) Abundant near the vilhige of St. 

 George on May 28, where a few nests were seen, but no eggs. On Jnne 21, and for 

 days afterwards a perfect stream of kittiwakes was seen ciirrying material from the 

 vicinity of the ponds on St. Paul toward the Keef cliffs and Otter Island. 



Viewed fx'om the cliffs the flight of these birds is remarkably graceful, and es])e- 

 i'ially so when they have been disturbed from a midday siesta. I thus disturbed 

 several dozen one day, and carelully watcthed them as they ])assed and rej)asscd the 

 spot where 1 sat on the edge of the cliff. They were all within 20 yards and contin- 

 ually paraded parallel with the cli ft", all the while, intently watching me. They would 

 l)ass by for some ."50 or forty yards, then turn and fly an ecpml distance on the otlier 

 side before again making a turn. Usually the whole distance was accomplished by 

 sailing, and often the tunus and several lengths were traveled in the same way. Thus, 

 selecting an individual and keei)iug my eyes on him, I often counted from two to three 

 trips without a flap of a wing. One iiulividual thus noted made the trip seven times 

 without once changing his wings from their rigid outstretched position. The length of 

 bis parade was fully 50 yards, and he sailed in an almost straight line and r;irely 

 varied bis level, being about as high above the sea as 1 was on the cliff. Not a move- 

 ment of the air was perceptible to my senses. lie was often so (ilose that as he passed 

 I could distinctly see the movement of his eye as he slightly turned his head to view 

 me. Several times the fly lines of two birds would cross at about the same level, but 

 rarely would one flap to gain impetus enough to get rapidly out of the way. It Avas 

 more often accomplished by a quiver of the wings on the part of one of the two, a 

 sligbt rise as the other passed beneath, and then a similar descent, and the continu- 

 ation of the journey without any distinct flapping whatever. They thus sailed in 

 plain view as long as I remained on the rocks, probably thirty minutes. 



On August 2, most of the nests contained young, but a few had a young and an 

 egg, and sometimes two eggs, rarely three. Curiously enough, I never saw a nest 

 which contained more than one large young. Possibly the first hatched may in its 

 restlessness crowd the other egg or smaller young out of the nest.' The nests are 

 usually built on little projecting points of rock, too small to be utilized by any other 

 species, and are generally placed in groups of four or Ave or more. The adult plum- 

 age is attained before the bird is a year old, but a few individuals then sliow signs of 



'"The Kittiwakes, lu many cases, laid but one egg cacli; sometimes two, and a set of three eggs 

 was extremely rare, according to my observation." — (Lutz.) 



