KITTIWAKE. 
493 
NATA TORES. 
LA RID A. 
KITTIWAKE. 
Larus tridactylus. 
plate cxxxvn. 
The nest of the Kittiwake is at all times very difficult 
of access, placed as it is upon the slightest jutting ledge 
of rock, on the face of the most perpendicular precipices, 
washed or surrounded by the sea. It is formed of a con¬ 
siderable quantity of dry grass and pieces of sea-weed, and, 
were it not for a mixture of clay, giving it weight and 
adhesion to the rock, it would be impossible for the eggs 
or young ones to escape destruction. The Kittiwake 
breeds in great numbers on various parts of our sea- 
coast, and is exceedingly abundant on some of the Shet¬ 
land Islands, especially on the rocks of Unst. We one 
day left Buraforth—a fishing-station belonging to Mr- 
Edmonston, the most northerly residence on the British 
Islands—anxious to explore them. Passing down a nar¬ 
row forth, on our way to the open sea, thousands of Kit- 
tiwakes glided past us, fishing as they went along. These 
were, however, but a scattered few of the vast multitudes 
that crowded round us when we reached their breeding- 
places ; the ledges of the rocks were, to a great extent, 
whitened with their numbers, as much as they would have 
been by a fall of snow. The sea was spangled far and 
wide with them as they fished, and equal numbers floated 
