LARIDA. 683 
THE KITTIWAKE GULL. 
Rfssa TRpACTYLA (Linnzus). 
The Kittiwake—characterized by an obsolete hind-toe—is to be 
found in British waters throughout the year ; resorting in summer to 
jagged cliffs, where immense numbers may often be found breeding 
in close proximity. There are colonies on Lundy Island off North 
Devon, the Scilly Islands, Wales, the Isle of Man, Flamborough 
Head, and the Farne Islands; and, on the east side of Scotland, at 
the Bass Rock, the Isle of May, and Dunbuy in Aberdeenshire ; 
while in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides thousands of birds 
whiten the precipices, and the ‘gullery’ on the Shiant Islands is 
probably the most extensive in Great Britain. In Ireland, too, this 
Gull is extremely plentiful on the precipitous portions of the sea-board. 
On the Continent the Kittiwake is not known to nest further 
south than Brittany, but in winter it ascends the Garonne as far 
as Toulouse, and probably proceeds thence to the Mediterranean, 
where it is not uncommon as far as Sicily ; it also visits the Black 
and Caspian Seas, probably crossing Russia from the north. Its 
southern range extends to the Canaries on this side of the Atlantic, 
