The Bird Book: Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs.Reed, Chester A. (Chester Albert)
Science
The Bird Book: Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs.
Reed, Chester A. (Chester Albert)
Birds -- North America
The Kittiwake is sixteen inches in length, has a pearly gray mantle,
black tips to the primaries, and remainder of plumage white. Its hind
toe is very small being apparently wanting in the eastern form, while in
the Pacific it is more developed. These are very noisy Gulls, their
notes resembling a repetition of their name. They are very common in the
far north, placing nests on the ledges of high rocky cliffs, often in
company with Murres and Auks. They gather together a pile of sticks,
grass and moss, making the interior cup-shaped so as to hold their two
or three eggs. Large numbers of them breed on Bird Rock, they occupying
certain ledges while the Gannets and Murres, which also breed there,
also have distinct ledges on which to make their homes. The breeding
season is at its height during June. The eggs are buffy or brownish gray
and are spotted with different shades of brown. Size 2.25 × 1.60.
Data.--So. Labrador, June 15, 1884. Three eggs. Nest made of seaweed and
moss, placed on ledge of cliff. Many Murres nesting on other ledges.
[Illustration 041: Ivory Gull. Kittiwake.]
[Illustration: White.]
[Illustration: right hand margin.]
Page 40
40a. PACIFIC KITTIWAKE. _Rissa tridactyla pollicaris._
Range.--Coast of the North Pacific, wintering south to California.
The Pacific Kittiwake breeds in immense rookeries on some of the islands
in Bering Sea. They are well distributed over Copper Island where they
nest in June and July, choosing the high ledges which overhang the sea.
The nesting habits and eggs are precisely the same as those of the
common Kittiwake.
41. RED-LEGGED KITTIWAKE. _Rissa brevirostris._
Range.--Northwestern coasts, breeding in high latitudes.
This Kittiwake is similar to the preceding, with the exception that the
legs are bright red, the mantle is darker, and the bill is shorter. This
species was found by Dr. Leonard Stejneger to be a very abundant nesting
bird on islands in Bering Sea, selecting steep and inaccessible rocks
and ledges on which to build its nest. Their nesting habits are
precisely the same as the Pacific Kittiwake, but they most often nest in
separate colonies, but can be distinguished readily when nesting
together by the darker mantles when on the nest and the red legs when
flying. Grass, moss and mud are used in the nest. The ground color of
the eggs is buffy or brownish, and the spots are dark brown and lilac.
Size 2.15 × 1.50.
42. GLAUCOUS GULL. _Larus hyperboreus._
Range.--Arctic regions, south in winter to Long Island, the Great Lakes,
and San Francisco Bay.
This Gull shares with the Great Black-backed Gull the honor of being the
largest of the Gulls, being 28 inches in length. Mantle light gray; it
is distinguished by its size and the primaries, which are white to the
tips. A powerful bird that preys upon the smaller Gulls and also devours
the young and eggs of smaller birds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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