118 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap 
Still more common than the glaucous gull in the lands of the 
High North is hrychiaifi, the kittiwake. It is met with far out 
at sea, where it accompanies the vessel whole days, circling 
round the tops of the masts, and sometimes—according to the 
statements of the walrus-hunters, when a storm is approaching— 
pecking at the points of the pendant. When the vessel is in 
harbour, the kittiwakes commonly gather round it to pick out 
anything eatable in the refuse that may be thrown away. They 
breed in great flocks on the steep escarpments in some separate 
part of the fowl-fells, in connection with which, it is evident 
that the kittiwakes always endeavour to choose the best places 
of the fell—those that are most inaccessible to the fox and are 
best protected against bad weather. Among the birds of the 
north the kittiwake is the best builder; for its nest is walled 
with straw and mud, and is very firm. It juts out like a great 
swallow’s nest from the little ledge to which it is fixed. 
Projecting ends of straw are mostly bent in, so that 
the nest, with its regularly rounded form, has a very tidy 
appearance. The interior is further lined with a soft, carefully 
arranged layer of moss, grass and seaweed, on which the bird 
lays three to four well-flavoured eggs. The soft warm 
underlayer is, however, not without its inconvenience; for 
Dr. Stuxberg during the voyage of 1875 found in such a nest 
no fewer than twelve kinds of insects, among them Fidex 
vagabunduSy Bohem. in nine specimens, a beetle, a fly, &c. 
The ivory gull, called by Fr. Martens “Eathsherr,” the 
Councillor, is found, as its Swedish name indicates, principally 
out at sea in the 'pack, or in fjords filled with drift-ice. It is a 
true ice-bird, and, it may almost be said, scarcely a water-bird at 
all, for it is seldom seen swimming on the surface, and it can 
dive as little as its relatives, the glaucous gull and the kittiwake. 
In greed it competes with the fulmar. When any large animal 
has been killed among the drift-ice, the ivory gull seldom fails to 
put in an appearance in order to quench its hunger with flesh 
