396 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



36; Rissa tridactyla pollicaris Stejn. MSS. Ridgw. Pacific ICittlwake. " Chornie-vaitshlcu: (lore- 

 roosTcie.'' 



Larua tridactyla, Coindb, Eov. et Mag. Zool., 1860, 401. » 



Larus tridactyla var. kotzebui, CouES, in Elliott's Ept. Aff. Alaska, 1873 ; Ueprint, 1875, 199. — 



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

 Riasa tridactyla pollicaris, Turnkk, Con. Nat. Hist. Alaska, 1886, 124. — A. 0. U. Cli. List, 1895, 



16. — EiDGWAY, Man., 1896, 25. — Nelsox, Bds. Alaska, 1887, 49. — Towksend, Crnise, Corivin, 



1887, 98. 

 B[i8sa'\ t[i-idactyla'i kotzebuii, CoUKS, Key, 1890, 748. 

 Bissa tridactyla, Saunders, Cat. B. Br. Mus. XXV, 1896, 305 (part). 



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

 Larus [Bissa] brevirostris, coming at the same time, 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 brevirostris does." — [Elliott.) Abundant near the village of St. 

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

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

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



Viewed from the cliff's the flight of these birds is remarkably graceful, and esj)e- 

 cially so when they have been disturbed from a midday siesta. I thus disturbed 

 several dozen one day, and carefully watched them as they i>assed and repassed the 

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

 ually paraded parallel with the cliff', all the while intently watching me. They would 

 pass by for some 30 or forty yards, then turn and fly an equal distance on the other 

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

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

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

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

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

 his parade was fully 50 yards, and he sailed in an almost straight line and rarely 

 varied his level, being abont as high above the sea as I was on the cliff. Not a move- 

 ment of the air was perceptible to my senses. He was often so close 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 was 

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

 slight 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 

 resstlessness 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 five or more. The adult plum- 

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



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

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



