KITTIWAKE (so called in imitation of its cry). A medium-sized gull of the genus Rissa, characterized by the rudimentary or very small hind toe and the pectin:1i pattern of coloration of the primaries. It is confined to the Northern Ilemisphere and breeds in immense numbers along the rocky coasts of the northern oceans, building its nests on ledges and inaccessible cliffs. The nests are made of seaweeds, grass. moss. and the like, and the eggs, usually three, are, like those of other gulls. huffy or grayish brown, marked with chocolate-brown. The kittiwakes do not differ essentially from the other gulls in their • food or habits. Only two species are known, of which the common kittiwake (Rissa tridnety/a ) is the most widely distributed. It occupies dur ilig the summer the em ire circumpolar region in America. and breeds as far south as the Magdalen islands and northern Minnesota, while in winter it wanders south to the Caspian Sea and :Mediter ranean. and in the western Atlantic to the coasts
of Virginia. The same :species occurs in winter about the Great Lakes, and on the Pacific Coast as tar south a- Puget Sound. It is a curious fact that Pacific Coast specimens have the hind toe much better developed. and provided with a small claw, and they are accordingly recognized as a subspecies (var. pollica•is). The second species of kittiwake (Rissa brc•irostris) is an inhab itant of Bering Sea. where it is a permanent resi dent, and breeds in last numbers on the inacces sible crags of rocky islands. It is easily distin guished from the common kittiwake by the shorter hill, longer wing, and the color of the feet, which in life are coral-red, but when dry are yellow; the feet of the common species are black ish. Consult Job, Among the Water-low/ (New York, 1902), and standard authorities.