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A LOFTY I5UILDER. 
its habits it closely resembles the Ivory Gull, than which it 
is somewhat smaller, its maximum length being about 
seventeen inches. The hind j)art of the neck, with the oc- 
ciput, the back and wings, are pale bluish grey ; the larger 
quill feathers are black, and the rest of the plumage pure 
white ; the feet are black, and the bill pale greenish yellow. 
Birds of the first year have dark markings on the neck and 
wings, and in this state the name Tarrock has been applied 
to them ; until recently the impression has been entertained 
that they were a different species. 
KITTIWAKE. 
The Kittiwakes arrive along our coasts at the end of 
March, and disappear in October. Some assert that these 
bh-ds remain with us during the winter on the open seas, if 
not in the bays and estuaries ; but Macgillivray finds no 
evidence to support this doctrine, although individuals are 
met with at that season in the estuaries of Scotland, and 
along the southern coasts of England. They betake them- 
selves to high maritime cliffs, selecting those most in- 
accessible, and generally such as are frequented by Auks, 
Guillemots, and other sea birds. To these favourite resorts 
they return year after year, and it does not seem that they 
ever occupy other stations, or form new colonies. 
In summer this species is dispersed over the arctic regions 
of both continents, and in winter advances southward ; how 
