GUFFS AND TERNS OF NEW KNGUND. 183 
Gulls and Terns of New England. II. 
BY W. R. VARICK, M. D. 
All of our gulls but one belong to the genus Icarus, but 
here, in accordance with our color classification, must be 
ranked the distinguished exception, the Kittewake ( Rissa 
tridactyla.) 
He is a little fellow, sixteen inches long, who visits our 
coasts commonly in winter, a fairy in white from the realms 
of ice. The gray mantle and black tipped primaries do 
not show, unless one sees this sprightly beauty close at 
hand, and the dark ring around the eye, which he assumes 
in winter does not mar the purity of his snowy garb. Yet 
he has the constitution of the hardiest old salt afloat. E- 
qually at home near shore or in mid ocfean, he sports with 
the hardest gale, or sleeps comfortably, with head under 
wing, on top of the stormy winter seas, feeding on any thing 
he can get, and like most gulls drinking salt water in pre¬ 
ference to fresh. They nest in colonies on the shores of 
the Arctic Ocean. 
This bird is a familiar friend of the fishermen who follow 
their calling in winter on the shoals off shore. They flock 
around the schooners for the fish refuse that is thrown over¬ 
board. The books say that Kittewakes can always be iden¬ 
tified by the rudimentary hind toe. This is a very impor¬ 
tant fact for us opera glass cranks, very fortunate indeed. 
The next class of gulls includes those having black or 
slate-colored heads in breeding plumage. There are only 
two that visit us often enough to be counted. Bonaparte’s 
Gull ( Larus Philadelphia ) comes along to the coast as a 
spring or autumn migrant, and is occasional as a winter 
visitant. He is the smallest member of the family we have, 
only fourteen inches long, and, like well-mannered chil¬ 
dren, he is pretty, friendly, not very noisy, and altogether 
