294 GAVIIE. 



Figures : Gould, Birds of Great Britain, v, pi. 60 ; Dresser, Birds 

 of Europe, viii. pi. 600. 



The Common Gull probably breeds on the Kurile Islands and on 

 the coasts of Yezzo, whence many examples have been procured by 

 Mr. Snow, Mr. Henson, and Captain Blakiston. The first identified 

 example recorded from Japan was shot at Hakodadi on the 13th of 

 November, 1864 (Whitely, Ibis, 1867, p. 210) . There are several 

 examples in the Pryer collection from Yokohama, but most of them 

 are in immature plumage. 



Larus californicus has been recorded from Japan (Saunders, Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 175), and also Larus delawarensis (Saunders, Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 177). Mr. Saunders informs me certainly that 

 the former and probably the latter were wrongly identified, and must 

 be referred to Larus canus. 



The range of the Common Gull, like that of the Black-headed Gull, 

 extends from the British Islands across Siberia to Japan, but it is an 

 Arctic not a Temperate species, and rarely breeds where the mean 

 temperature for the month of July is above 60°. 



292. LARUS TRIDACTYLUS. 



(KITTIWAKE.) 



Larus tridactylus, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 224 (1766). 



The Kittiwake is one of the smaller Gulls (wing from carpal joint 

 13 to 11 inches). Its legs and feet are nearly black, and the hind 

 toe is absent or very small. The colour of its mantle is like that of 

 the Common Gull. The wing beyond the tip of the sixth primary is 

 black, with small white tips to the fourth and fifth primaries ; the 

 rest of the wing is pearl-grey, with a black outer web to the first 

 primary. 



Figures : Gould, Birds of Great Britain, v. pi. 61 ; Dresser, Birds 

 of Europe, viii, pi. 608. 



The Kittiwake breeds on the Kurile Islands, whence it was pro- 

 bably obtained by Steller (Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. ii. p. 321), 

 and whence there is an example in the Pryer collection obtained by 

 Mr. Snow in June on the island of Rashua. In the Hakodadi 

 Museum there are examples obtained at Nemoro, the eastern extremity 

 of Yezzo (Blakiston and Pryer, Trans. As. Soc. Japan, 1882, p. 105). 



The Kittiwake is a circumpolar species, and breeds on the coasts 

 of the British Islands. 



