GULLS 



(40) Rissa tridactyla 



(Linn.) (Icelandic name, rissa; Gr., three- 

 toed). 



KITTIWAKE. Hind toe appear- 

 ing only as a minute knob. Ad. in 

 summer — Plumage as shown here; 

 primaries shown in sketch below. 

 Bill light yellow. Feet blackish. 

 Iris yellow. In winter — Similar 

 but with pearl-gray on top of head 

 and nape, and a small black crescent 

 in front of the eye. Im. — Like the 

 winter adult, but with a black spot 

 behind the eye; lesser wing coverts 

 and terminal tail band, black. L., 

 17.00; W., 12.25; Ex., 36.00; T., 

 4.50; B., 1.30. 



Range — Breeds abundantl}' on sea- 

 cliffs from the Magdalen Islands, 

 northward. Winters south to N. J. 

 and the Great Lakes. 



pictures and drawings of primaries will serve better than 

 words to show the characters of the different species. 



IVORY GULLS are birds of high latitude, rarely seen 

 within the borders of the United States. It is our only- 

 gull having an entirely white plumage. The yellowish 

 shafts to the feathers give this bird its name. Otherwise 

 it looks very similar to a large white dove, of course with the 

 exceptions of the bill and feet. 



KITTIWAKES are also Arctic birds, but not so exclu- 

 sively so as the last species. They are very abundant at their 

 breeding places, the most southerly one on our coast being 

 Bird Rock, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Their nests are 

 quite bulkily constructed of seaweed and moss, placed 

 closely together on narrow^ ledges of rocky cliffs. They 

 are very noisy, uttering harsh " keet-a-wakes, " hence their 

 name. 



Great numbers of Kittiwakes pass the winter off the 

 New England coast and in Long Island Sound. They can 



36 



