of rare occurrence in the north and east of that inland sea.
It -visits the coast of the Netherlands and of France, breeding
in Brittany ; and it .ranges southwards in winter torSpain,
North. Africa, the Canaries, and the Azores. In small
numbers it occurs in the southern part of the.Mediterranean
as far as Malta ; and not only is it. to be found ööcasionally
on the inland waters of Ihe:.Continent after heavy weather,
but it annually ascends the Garonne as far as Toulouse,
whence it probably crosses over to the north-western portion
of the Mediterranean, where it.L is not uncommon^] Either
by following the, rivér-system of Russia, or by some other,
route', :it arrives on the. Black Sea and the Caspian .in
winter; and Th. von Heuglin records it as a straggler to.
the coast of Egypt.:,
Returning northwards, we find tho Kittiwake common
in summèr on thé coasts of Iceland, Greenland, and .thé'
Arctic Sea, from Baffin Bay ,t.o; the Pacific, and to the
Preobraschine Islands on . the North Siberian shared ISouthtl
wards its range extends to Japan. Among the myriads
which frequent, the- islands and shores ©f® Bering Sea,'
some examples have minute but tolerably developed hind
toes, with, at times, a .visible nail; .KutJhis variation is.
always /.equal Jn , extent^ e v e n b o t h 7 feet'W^éhë'.
same . individual, and .there is a gradatiop;* between'this
variety, which- Bonaparte distinguished . by -thé name :©fi
Rissa Jwtzebui, and the ordinary Kittiwake. iNea?; .is-^thiss
development confined tp.^he birds of »the^ Nërfe Pacific,,
although more frequently observedèthëre than Alse,where; for-
it is welfc marked in. an example in the' .British' Museum,
obtained by Ross af Port Leopoïd;^Whalefish, Islands^ also,
the only specimen which Mr. A. H.TiCock^brought back-
from.Spitsbergen;has distinct hind;-tQes7t44olol. 1881,jp. 410),
and similar instances might be mpltiplied. .«There-is, however;
a perfectly, distinct jpécies, Ri%sa* Memv&sjwm^ Brandt,
which is abundant,between Alaska; Kamtschatkaj and the
Sea of Okbql§k|^reedingi;in .thousands'fort-?thé Prybilov
and Aleutian I ^ n d s ; and, thé Jatter may at„ohce-bê^ëe©g-
nized by its ??ery stout bill, Qrdng®%ëéh hgsb:dnd 'feet, and
darker mantle; the ground-colour of the primaries is also
dark grey. A variation in the hind toe and nail, similar id.
that in R. tridactyla.', although in a smaller degree, is observable
in this species. t' In -winter our Kittiwake goes as far
south as the Middle UnitecLStates, and the Bermudas.
The Kittiwake breeds on the narrowest'ledges-bf rocky
cliffs, and the nests, which are formed of sea-weeds, are
generally placed very close together. Three eggs is there
ost usual number in each nest r these ’"average 2*15 by
l ‘6 in3 ; of a stone-colour, tinged with olive, »thickly spotted
with ash-grey, and two’ shades- of light*, brown. They- are
seldom laid unththMast^week in May, and sometimes noltffi
the first week in June, so that-many of the young are still in
the nést,- or barely fliers^ when the Sea- Birds Protection Act
expires on %he 1st - of August. Some years 'ago-, whfefi’ the
plumes of birds were muCh-worn- in ladies’ hats—a fashion
which any season-^may-see -revived—the barred wing1 of the”
youngJEEittiwake was in great-demand for this purpose, and
vast! numbers . were* -' slaughtered at their breeding-haunts.
A$ɧléie%^ opposite’ Bundy Island, there was a regular
staff^tforii-pi-eparing - thé plumes, and fishing' smacks with,
extra béats * and crews uiséd"to commence their work of destruction
-at Lundy Island by day-break on the ïst of August,;
continuingthis<pr©ceeffifl^ for upwards ofoa fortnight. In
manyóëasésfethé -wings £wëÉltUörnt off ' the * wounded biï-ds
feefor.eAhey were dead,«the mangkdwictimsJaeing tossed hhck
in»t#the watei^-; and the 'Editor has seen hundreds of -young
birds dead, ör dying oBstarvatJIM-iia the nests, through want
ofSpfffpSj parents-^-caise; for the heat of the fusillade nodistinction
was mad ©’between old and'young. On one day
'^©^birds^el'g* sent back Ciovel^fefc another 500, and
SO^on; and, allowing fortsthe starred nestlings, 'Jt is well
within the; mark to>Say that at l'ea!st 0,000 of these inoffensive
birds1 were destroyed duringïfté-’förtfiight. -
iiTheiprincipal food'W the Ki-ttiw-ake^‘the small surface-
swimming fry ofofiftresy ahdother soft marine animals. Dr.
Malm’gteo found4 that s-thè^toniachsr of those which 'he shot
óff Spitsbergen were filled with ^m a c iiia -amtipti: By the