Notes on the Habits of the Kittiwake Gull. —Some fishermen 
whom I lately employed to get a few Kittiwake Gulls on the winter fishing 
grounds off" Swampscott, Massachusetts, gave me the following interesting 
account of the habits of this species, and the way in which my specimens 
were procured. 
A number of small schooners sail from Swampscott every winter morn¬ 
ing, and reach the fishing banks, which are some twelve miles off" shore ? 
about daybreak. The men then take to their dories, and buckets of bait 
—generally cod-livers or other refuse—are thrown out to attract the fish 
to the spot. Of this custom the Kittiwakes—or “Pinny Owls,” as these men 
invariably call them—are well aware, and swarms of them quickly collect 
around the boats to pick up the morsels before they sink. They are very 
tame, and if one of the flock is shot the others hover over it as Terns 
will do on similar occasions. The usual way of taking them, however, 
is with hook and line, the bait being allowed to float off" on the surface, 
when it is quickly seized by one of the greedy horde. In this manner 
great numbers are annually taken by the fishermen, who either skin and 
stew them or use the flesh for bait. I was assured that a “Pinny Owl” 
“stew is by no means an unpalatable dish. 
After the morning fishing is at an .end the vessels start for their an¬ 
chorage in Swampscott harbor, and the fish are dressed on the way. This 
gives the Gulls another chance which is not neglected, for the entire flock 
follows closely in their wake. When the catch has been a large one, and 
the work of cleaning the fish is continued at the anchorage, they remain 
about the spot for hours picking up this offal directly under the sides of 
the vessels. Here again the poor birds are often mercilessly slaughtered 
by city gunners who shoot them for sport or practice, leaving the dead 
and wounded to float out to sea with the ebbing tide. The fishermen 
admit that their numbers have greatly diminished of late years, but they 
are said to be still very abundant through the winter months.— William 
Brewster, Cambridge, MasBull , N.O.O, 7, April, 1882, p, /2 b ' /X L . 
Birds of Bristof County, Mass. 
F.W.Andros. 
Iiissct tridactyla (Linn.), Kittiwake. Winter 
visitant, common. 
O.& o. XII. Sept. 1887 p.137 
So 
