BIRDS OF DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
13 
Family LARID.-E. 
Rissa tridactyla. Kittiwake. 40. 
The Kittiewakes are common winter residents, appearing here by 
the 1st of November. They are more plentiful in early and late, 
than in mid-winter, as the majority continue southward in their mi- 
gration. They stick pretty closely to the ocean, but sometimes come 
inland. One was shot on Newmarket river November 10, 1900. 
It is most readily distinguished from other species, regardless of 
plumage, by the absence of the hind toe, the place where the toe 
ought to be bearing only a small knob. 
Larus glaucus. Glaucous Gull. 42. 
The Glaucous Gull is one of the winter visitants along the coast 
that rarely falls into the hands of local collectors. In examining eight 
different collections about here, I have found only one Glaucous Gull, 
that being in the possession of Mr. S. A. Shaw of Hampton, who 
procured it some years since in the month of May. 
Larus marinus. Great Black-backed Gull. 47. 
This handsome gull comes from the north as early as the middle of 
October and may be seen at the beaches from that time on through 
the winter. Most of the fall birds are young in the brown plumage, 
but adults are not rare. They may often be seen standing on the 
shore, singly or in groups, just where the remnants of the breakers 
cease their shoreward flow and turn back. In company with herring 
gulls, thev follow the fishermen for the refuse from their cleaninsf 
tables which is thrown overboard. At such a time they lose much 
of their usual caution, and come quite close to the schooner in their 
rush for garbage. This gull measures upwards of two and a half feet 
in length, being our largest gull except the Glaucous Gull, which is 
about the same size. 
Larus argentatus. Herring Gull. 5ra. 
This is the common species seen flying over the Piscataqua and 
Great Bay, or resting high on the water like unladen ships waiting for 
a fair wind. They begin to come early in October, and remain till 
the last of April. I never sav^^ them more abundant than on the 20th of 
the latter month, 1898, though I saw none afterward that spring. The 
