340 
LARID.E. 
head broccoli-brown above ; from base of bill, downwards, in 
front, becoming gradually darker, or from broccoli-brown to 
blackish. The black is between a mask and a hood in form. 
In this individual, therefore, we have in the height of the breed- 
ing season the colours of the two supposed species. 
So many closely-allied birds were confounded together when 
Temminck described the L. cajoistratus, that it would have been 
a very fair museum species for any distinguished ornithologist to 
notice. In addition to numbers of specimens in various states of 
plumage, it often requires a great amount of observation out of 
doors, to decide a point of this kind. 
THE KITTIWAKE. 
Larus tridactylus, Linn. 
,, rissa , Brunn. 
Is a regular summer visitant to the coast in great num- 
bers ; — some are met with during winter. 
The same is said of the species in Great Britain.* This gull is 
gregarious in the breeding season, frequenting every side of the 
island, and building in “ mural precipices,” which are its favourite 
haunts. Dr. J. D. Marshall informed us in 1834, that — "This 
is by far the most common species of gull in Bathlin. On nearly 
all the precipitous headlands north of the Bull, these birds take 
up their summer residence, and during my visit (in June) were 
in such countless multitudes as to darken the air above our heads. 
Along the headlands of Kaghery every pinnacle and ledge of rock 
was tenanted by the razorbill, puffin, or kittiwake gull; and nu- 
merous as the others were, the last far outstripped them in num- 
ber. The nests were formed of dried grass, sea-weed, &c. ; and the 
eggs, usually two in number, are of a grey colour, blotched and 
dotted with brown and purple. When I looked down from a 
height on these nests, it appeared wonderful how the birds found 
* Jardine, ‘ Brit. Birds,’ vol. iv. p. 312. 
