The Pacific Kittiwake 
Authorities.—Loomis (Stercorarius longicaudus), Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 
2, v., x895, p. 213 (Monterey); Bishop, Condor, vol. vii., 1905, p. 141 (Pacific Beach, 
San Diego Co.); Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 1, 1900, p. 8 (Kotzebue Sound, 
Alaska; desc. nest, eggs, habits, food, etc.); ibid., Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 11, 1915, 
p. 20 (Monterey). 
THIS, the smallest, as well as the most active and graceful of the 
Jaegers, appears to be more of a stay-at-home than any of its fellows. 
At least it does not come so far south in winter, having been only twice 
recorded from California; once by Loomis at Monterey, and once by 
Marsden at Pacific Beach, in San Diego County. 
The Long-tailed Jaegers are the first of their kind to revisit the 
northern tundras when spring has forced winter’s lock. On such oc¬ 
casions they dash about like excited schoolboys, chasing their fellows in 
mock pursuit, or relieving their feelings by shrill cries. The selection 
of a mate is a noisy as well as momentous affair, but once accomplished, 
the pair retires to some lonesome spot of the tundra, where two elongated 
dark eggs of an olive-green hue, marked with blackish, are laid in a 
cup-shaped depression lined with moss. The parent birds are skilled in 
ruse rather than in defense, and in progressive paroxysms rehearse the 
agonies of mortal wounds so as to deceive the very elect—the while the 
nest is being left behind. 
Although as skilled as any of their kind in exacting fishing toll ot 
gull or tern, these furtive mischiefs have bad consciences, insomuch that 
they make a poor fist of robbing birds’ nests. Curlews, terns, tiny 
sandpipers even, exalted by the righteousness of their cause, can drive 
these cowards out of bounds. When courage fails, therefore, they will 
descend to lemmings, insects, offal,—berries even. A full crop restores 
confidence, and our hero of many inconsistencies settles on the highest 
hummock which the neighborhood affords, cocks his head back, thrusts 
out his gleaming white breast, and poses as an amiable landmark, till 
digestion and cupidity urge a repetition of the endless round. 
No. 270 
Pacific Kittiwake 
A. 0 . LT. No. 40. Rissa tridactyla pollicaris Ridgway. 
Synonym.— Kittiwake Gull. 
Description. —Adult in summer: General plumage pure white, the mantle deep 
pearl-gray; five or sometimes six outer primaries with terminal portion black, the 
breadth of black area on first primary about three inches, decreasing to .85 in the 
Ij 6 l 
