182 bhunnich's ktttiwakk. 



its irides are brown : the top of the head, the oc- 

 ciput, nape, and a portion of the sides of the neck, 

 are of an uniform bluish-ash colour, with very slender 

 black lines before the eyes : the forehead, space round 

 the eyes, all the under parts, the rump, and the tail 

 are pure white : the back, wings, and quills are of a 

 clear ashy-blue : the outer quill is bordered throughout 

 its length with black ; the four outer are tipped with 

 the same, the three inner of which have towards their 

 tip a very small white spot, and the fifth quill has a 

 black band towards its extremity, which is terminated 

 with a white space : the legs are brown, or deep 

 olivaceous. In the summer it has the whole of the 

 head and the neck of a perfect white, without any 

 tinge of ashy-blue on its nape, or the fine black rays 

 before the eyes ; in other respects it resembles the 

 winter state. During its earliest existence it has the 

 head, neck, and all the under parts whitish, marked 

 before the eyes with a black cross, and on the region 

 of the ears with a very deep ashy-blue spot ; towards 

 the occiput is a black spot ; and on the nape is a 

 broad dusky or blackish mark : the feathers on the 

 upper parts of the back and of the wings are of an 

 ashy-blue strongly tipped with brown-black, and the 

 bend of the upper part of the wings black : on the 

 scapulars and secondary quills are several deep dusky 

 spots : the quills are black : the tail-feathers are black 

 towards the tip, and tipped with whitish ; their outer 

 one is white 1 the beak, irides, and circuit round the 

 eyes are black. After the first moult in the autumn 

 the back becomes of an ashy-blue colour, often varied 

 with several feathers spotted with brown : the spots 



