The Kittiwake Gull. io ? 



" While fishing and shooting in the channel off Shoreham, Lancing and 

 Worthing, during autumn, I remarked that the young Kittiwakes generally put 

 in an appearance soon after the beginning of September .... I noticed they 

 were capable of devouring immense quantities of herrings and any amount of 

 sprats and fish-liver when cut up into small pieces ; [which] we used to feed the 

 swarms of these birds [with]. . . . the Kittiwakes would hover in hundreds just 

 over the stern, darting down when small pieces of fish were flung overboard, and 

 seizing the morsel before it reached the water." (Booth). Harvie-Brown and Buckley 

 mention in their " Fauna of Argyll and the Inner Hebrides " a curious habit 

 observed by Mr. H. Evans from his yacht. Kittiwakes were seen close by his 

 vessel under water in pursuit of fish. "Two Kittiwakes," he notes, "seen resting 

 on the water, and things like open books under water, the next moment up 

 popped six more Kittiwakes ; we steamed into the middle of them, and there 

 were eight instead of two. They were open winged under water, and rose 

 apparently quite dry. They projected themselves into the water rather like 

 Terns, but from a lesser height." 



This bird is, on account of its beautiful wings, one of the few British species 

 destroyed in large numbers for the purpose of supplying "plumes" for ladies' 

 wear. Thousands are yearly shot for this purpose at Lundy, " in many cases 

 the wings torn off the wounded birds before they were dead " (Saunders), just as 

 is so often done in the breeding haunts of the White Egret; off Brighton, is 

 another slaughtering place, with the same object in view. The confiding nature 

 of the bird leads it to its destruction ; for Kittiwakes like Terns congregate 

 fearlessly and within shot, round one of their fallen neighbours. 



