16 
BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
this species are used in many sections along” the Atlantic coast, especi¬ 
ally in some of the southern states, for table purposes. 
Larus Philadelphia (Ord.). 
Bonaparte’s Gull; “ Little Gull.” 
Description {Plate 52). 
Adult. —Bill, black; tarsi (dried skin), reddish-yellow; head and upper pa.c of 
neck dark lead color; lower part of neck, under parts, rump and tail pure v fiite ; 
mantle, pale pearl-blue; three first primaries mainly white; first primary with 
black outer web ; first six primaries have black ends, a halt inch or over long and 
each one is slightly tipped with white ; other primaries like back. In winter the 
adult has white head with dark spots over ears, in other respects quite like adult in 
spring. 
Young.— Bill, black, yellowish at base; tarsi, reddish-yellow (dried skin) ; 
iris, hazel; greater part of head, the throat, neck and under parts white ; tail, 
white, except a black bar nearly an inch wide at end; primaries with much more 
black than in adult; dark colored auricular spots ; crown and upper parts, espe- 
pecially the wings, mottled with light lead color and brownish-gray ; length about 
14 inches ; extent about 32 inches. 
Habitat— Whole of North America, breeding mostly north of the United States ; 
south in winter to Mexico and Central America. 
This species known to fishermen on Lake Erie and about the Dela¬ 
ware and Susquehanna rivers as “ Little Gull,” is by far the most abun¬ 
dant of all the Gulls in Pennsylvania, where it occurs as a reg-ular mi¬ 
grant in the spring and fall. During migrations, particularly in the 
autumn, these birds are frequently to be seen in considerable numbers 
about the harbor at Erie city. Bonaparte’s Gulls are found generally 
throughout the state, about the numerous lakes, ponds and larger 
streams. Occasionally in the interior good-sized flocks are noted, but 
usually they are seen singly, in pairs, or sometimes in small parties of 
four or five individuals. They generally arrive here early in April and 
remain mostly until early in May, when they pass northward to their 
breeding grounds, from which they return here usually about the first 
week in October and remain until early in November. At Lake Erie, 
where the species is perhaps more numerous than in any other section 
of Pennsylvania, I observed a flock of a dozen or more of these Gulls in 
company with two or three Herring Gulls late in the month of Decem¬ 
ber, 1889. This bird, in addition to feeding on fish and other kinds of 
aquatic animal life, subsists, also, to a considerable extent, on different 
insects, particularly beetles and grasshoppers. 
Genus RISSA Stephens. 
Rissa tridactyla (Linn.). 
Kittiwake. 
Description. 
il Adult.— Head, neck, entire under plumage, rump and tail, white; back and 
wings light bluish-gray ; the ends of the five outer primaries, and the outer web of 
the first, black ; the fourth and fifth have small white tips; bill, greenish-yellow 5 ' 
iris, reddish-brown; legs and teet brownish-black, with a green tinge. 
