THE IVORY GULL AND KITTIWAKE. 
295 
Descending sheer thy piercing beak 
On his cleft head nnshelter'd wreak 
Keen vengeance, and the rocky shore 
Strew with his brains and streaming gore : 
Then only rescued, if the advance 
Of sharpen' d pole, of steel-capt lance, 
Meet in full tilt thy furious course ; 
And by thine own impetuous force 
Home through thy bronze-like corslet driven, 
Of plaited plumage rent and riven. 
Prevent the death-denouncing blow, 
And leave unscath'd the victor foe. 
The Ivory Whale White Gull ( Cetosparactes ehurneits), 
sometimes called the Ivory or White Gull, Senator, Snow- 
Bird, from the peculiarly white colour of its plumage. 
This bird is the sole representative of a genus called 
CetosjKiractes, meaning Wliale-tearer, suggested by the well 
known habit which it has of attending on the whale ships, 
and greedily devouring blubber and other animal matter. 
This species appears to be in no way distinguishable from 
some others of its family, unless by its purely white 
plumage, and comparatively stout bill ; there are some other 
marks of distinction which are obvious only to tlie scientific 
naturalist. 
The Ivory Gull measures about twenty inches in length ; 
it has black feet and a greenish grey bill, tinged with red- 
dish yellow beyond the nostrils. It inhabits the arctic 
regions of both continents, and in particular the coasts of 
Spitzbergen and Greenland, on the clilFs of which it breeds. 
According to Captain Sabine, it is abundant in Bafiin's Bay, 
and Dr. Richardson states, that it w^as found breeding in 
great numbers on the high perforated cliffs forming the ex- 
tremity of Cape Parry, in latitude 70°. Very few instances 
of its visiting Britain have been recorded. 
The Black-footed Kittiwake (Eissa tridactyla)^ 
sometimes called the Annet, or Tarrock. 
This is another single representative of a genus called 
Risscij the chief distinctive characteristic of which appears 
to be the extremely diminutive size of the hind toe, 
the form of the bill, and shortness of the beak. In most of 
