KITTIWAKE. 
283 
It will also destroy young lambs, and feed greedily on carrion ; in de- 
fect of these it readily eats mice, worms, and insects, and even snakes, 
the bones of which we have taken from the nest. 
It frequently resorts to the environs of towns to feed on offal, and 
is seen to sweep such matter from the surface of water with great 
dexterity. 
*At a farm-house in the neighbourhood of Hastings, a servant 
girl was alarmed by an unusual uproar among the poultry ; and 
on looking out, she saw a large bird hovering close to the window 
over some coops, where several broods of ducks and chickens were 
kept. She accordingly sallied forth to drive the bird away, but 
he took so little notice of her that she snatched up a broom, and 
actually knocked him down and killed him. It proved to be a Kite, 
which had probably a nest in a neighbouring wood. A circumstance 
similar to the above relation we witnessed in one of this species, that 
afforded us no small entertainment. A poor woman was washing some 
entrails in a stream of water, part of which extended a few yards out of 
the basket placed in the water : the hungry bird had long been hovering 
over, viewing with anxious eye so delicious a bait, and took the oppor- 
tunity of actually pouncing upon and carrying off a part, in spite of all 
the woman’s efforts with hands and tongue, the latter of vt^hich might 
have alarmed a more powerful enemy. 
In addition to these remarkable circumstances in the biography of 
this noble bird, we remember an instance of two males, in the spring 
of the year, being so intent in combat, that they both fell to the ground, 
holding firmly by each other’s talons, and actually suffered themselves 
to be killed by a woodman who was close by, and who demolished them 
both with his bill-hook. In England it is chiefly observed in the more 
wooded districts, where timber trees abound : is common in the eastern 
parts, rare in the north, and more rare in the west ; for in twelve years’ 
residence in Devonshire, we never observed but one in the southern 
district of that county.* 
Its flight consists generally of large and sweeping circles, performed 
with an almost motionless wing, directing its course by the tail, which 
acts as a rudder, whose slightest motion produces effect. It frequently 
soars to such a height as to be nearly invisible to the naked eye. 
KILLOCKDOE. — A name for the Black Cock. 
KITTIWAKE (Larus Rissa, Li NN^US.) 
Lams Rissa, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 244. 1. — Gmel. Syst. 2. p. 598. — Temm. Man. 
d’Orn. 2. p. 774. — Larus tridactylus, Lath, Ind. Orn. 8. p. 817. 2. — Le Goeland 
cendre, Briss. 6. t. 14. and 17. p. 2 Kittiwake, Br. Zool. 2. No. 250. t. 89. — » 
Arct. Zool. 2. p. 456 — Lath. Syn. 6. 393. 19. — Lewins Br. Birds, 6. t. 213. — ^ 
PrJt. Cat. Dorset. 18. — FLa/c. Syn. 1. 1. 108. — Flem. Br. Anim. p 141. — Tarrock, 
Penn. Br. Zool. 2. 251. 
