452 



6 



Malta ; for Schembri records the capture of one in January 1843, and Mr. C. A. Wright writes 

 (Ibis, 1874, p. 238) as follows: — "My friend Mr. Medlycott shot one of these birds in the 

 Marsamuscetto Harbour on the 22nd February 1873; and I examined the specimen before he 

 sent it to be skinned. It is one of our rarest Gulls, but, I dare say, gets often overlooked in a 

 flock of the Adriatic Gull, one of which he killed with the other barrel." 



It has occasionally been met with in Southern Germany ; and Dr. Fritsch says (J. f. 0. 1872, 

 p. 374) that it visits Bohemia in winter, but only very rarely. Four were killed near Prague in 

 January 1848 ; Professor Kazbunda obtained one near Jicin in 1865 ; and one, probably a weak 

 bird left behind during passage, was obtained by Mr. Hromadko in May 1844. 



In the Eastern Mediterranean it is an extremely rare bird ; but Von Nordmann cites one 

 occurrence near Odessa, in the Black Sea ; and Heuglin states that it is occasionally seen off the 

 coast of Egypt in winter, though not every year. 



According to Loche it occurs in Algeria in winter ; and Favier says that off Tangier it is 

 nearly as common as the Herring-Gull from November to March. Mr. Godman records it from 

 the Azores, Madeira, and Canaries, and says : — " There were a few Kittiwakes about the 

 harbour of Ponta Delgada when I first arrived ; but I did not see them elsewhere. The master 

 of one of the fruit-schooners told me that this and the next species (Larus argentatus) frequently 

 followed their vessels for the whole of the voyage from England. I do not know that it breeds 

 in the Azores." He adds (Ibis, 1872, p. 222) that it probably breeds about the coasts in 

 Teneriffe, and he saw either this species or Larus canus there in May. According to Dr. C. 

 Bolle (J. f. O. 1857, p. 341) the Kittiwake " accompanies in winter the steamers from the coasts 

 of England to those of the Canaries. The ' Retriever,' by which I went from Plymouth to Santa 

 Cruz, in February, was always surrounded by a small number of these Gulls. I still perceived 

 them late in the afternoon of the 25th of February, twenty-four hours after we had left Madeira. 

 I arrived at my destination at daybreak on the 26th February, and I do not know if the Gulls 

 followed the ship to the Gambia. At any rate those parts of Africa are visited in winter by 

 Larus tridactylus, as there is a specimen from Senegal in the Berlin Museum. Probably it 

 occurs every winter about the Canaries." In Asia it is of rare occurrence. Eichwald and 

 Menetries found it on the Caspian, where, however, it is uncommon ; but it does not occur on 

 the coasts of India, China, or Japan. 



In America it is found both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Sir John Richardson says 

 that it abounds in the interior of the fur-countries on the coasts of the Pacific, and also on the 

 shores of the Arctic seas, where it breeds. The young appear in considerable numbers in the 

 autumn on the coasts of Hudson's Bay. In the autumn and winter it is common in the Bay of 

 Fundy, and occurs in winter down into the middle United States. 



In habits the Kittiwake is essentially an ocean bird, frequenting maritime cliffs during the 

 breeding-season, and the true ocean during the winter. It is very seldom seen inland, except 

 when driven in by stress of weather ; but I have shot one in a ploughed field in the centre of 

 Yorkshire. It feeds on small fishes, Crustacea, and other marine animals, which it usually 

 obtains from the surface of the water, over which it hovers with elevated wings when picking 

 up its food. It seldom walks, owing to the shortness of its legs, and rests either standing or 

 lying down. It is a very unsuspecting, harmless bird, and when at its breeding-station may be 



