HARVARD UNIVERSITY. LIBRARY OF THE MUSEUM OF Tay ZOOLOGY S19 GIFT OF Ontrlr 29, 1921. VN a8 Ue “om Pat a COLOURED FIGURES OF THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. ISSUED BY Oi TPO), £7Z.8.,° ETC., PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. ~ VOLUME VI. LONDON: Rk. H. PORTER, 7 PRINCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W. 1885-—1897. PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. ‘, oe CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI. vii T.-LXV. 1-150- . GREAT . Common GULL . Herrine-GUri COC Peon OF EDITIONS. Tuis Work was RB WACK AN ERIN, 5 asc chs sn . WHITE-WINGED Back TERN. . WHISKERED TERN . GULL-BILLED TERN .... . Caspian TERN . SANDWICH TERN . RosEatEe TERN . Common TERN ........ . Arcric TERN . Livre TERN PESOOMY MEN sco cows ss . Lesser Sooty TERN.... . Noppy Tarn PES ABEN ES GoUBT cra. vc» . CUNEATE-TAILED GULL. . Fy) Chideue cmc Ons 9 bbl 39 . BONAPARTE’S GULL . . LirtLe Guin . BLACK-HEADED GULL .. . MEDITERRANEAN Buack- ele) «alle! eh 0)» HEADED GULL. BruacK-HEADED GULL. SoC DORCAS O,icuny . Lesszkr BrAcK-BACKED GULL. . GREAT GULL. . Guatcous GuLL BLACK-BACKED =§ ge le SIT . IcELAND GULL . KirriwakE Olu 9118.06)» eye e issued in two Editions: October 1885, and the Second April 1891, both Editions ending simultaneously ; the Plates in Volume VI. appeared as follows :— lst Edition. PART XXVIII. _ XXIX. XXVIII. XXIX. XXVIII. XXIX. XEXCV PLE, XX. OCB UTE XXIX. XXXII. XXXV. XXIX, XX. XXIII. XXVII. XXIX. XE XXXL XXIV. x XXIII. XXYV. XXIII. XXVII. Sept. 1894. Nov. 1894. Sept. Nov. Sept. Nov. Sept. Dee. Sept. Nov. Noy. Noy. Noy. Dec. Mar. Dee. Noy. 1896. Aug. June June Dec. Mar. Oct. Mar. 1894. 1894. 1894. 1894. 1894. 1891. 1894. 1894. LS9%. 1894. 1891. 1893. 1893. 1894. 1892. 1895. 1893. 1891. 1893. 1893. 1893. Dec. 1893. Noy. 1893. June 1893. the First commenced 2nd Edition. PART XXVIII. XXIX. XXVIII. XXIX. XXVIII. XXIX. XXVIII. XIV. XXVIII. XK XIX. XXXII. XXXV. XXIX. GING ».9.& XXVI. XXIX. XV. XXXI. XXIII. XGHVE EX. bb) XXIV. XX. XXVI. XXV. 5 2 S.Quey Sept. 1894. Nov. 1894. Sept. 1894. Nov. 1894. Sept. 1894, Nov. 1894. Sept. 1894. July 1892. Sept. 1894. Noy. 1894. Noy. 1896. Nov. 1897. Noy. 1894. July 1892. Mar. 1893. Dee. 1893. Noy. 1894. Aug. 1892. June 1895. July 1893. July 1892. Mar. 1893. 3” Oct. 1893. Mar. 1893. Dee. 1893. Nov. 1893. July 1893. vi COLLATION OF © PVORY GUillya ie canner RGA gn os oo on , TwISt-PAILED SKUA.... +h) ty) . RICHARDSON’S SKUA.... . LONG-TAILED or BurF- FON’S SKUA. PAwWVAOMINGH 5550000000 7 GRAT AN IKG seme sacra . Common GUILLEMOT . Briyyicu’s GUILLEMOT. ” 39 1. Buack GUILLEMOT .... Pal Datininiay NOS Gace gone 80 5, AOR SE'Niat ato fete chetness Peale . GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. . WHITH-BILLED GREAT NortHERN DIVER. }. BLACK-THROATED DivER. . RED-THROATED DIVER ..: . GREAT CRESTED GREBE. . RED-NECKED GREBE.... . Lusspr Crestep, HORNED, or SCLAVONIAN GREBE. . HARED GREBE ........ . LirrLe GREBE or DaB- CHICK, . STORM-PETREL........ . FORK-TAILED PETREL .. 5. RipGway’s PETREL .... . LONG-LEGGED or WIL- son's PETREL, . WHITE-FACED PETREL . . . GREAT SHEARWATER . SOOTY SHEARWATER.... . Manx SHEARWATER.... . Dusky SHEARWATER . Butwer’s PEerrep . COLLARED PETREL . CAPPED PETREL ...... 7 SR UTAMUAR | Bence cB eee ote EDITIONS. Ist Edition. PART XXVI. XX]. XXXI. XX XI. SOUL, XVIII. XXI. XXXII. XXIII. X. XXY. XXXIV. XXXY. XVIII. XXVI. MX VIL. DXONGYE XX. XXVIII. XXXII. XXXY. KXIX. OXOXGIVE VIL. W1OL, XXXIV. XXXII. Wade XXXY. XXXIV. Nov. 1893. Aug. 1892. June 1895. Apr. 1896. Jan. 1890. Apr. 1891. Aug. 1892. Apr. 1896. Mar. 1893. Mar. 1889. Oct. 1893. Apr. 1897. Noy. 1897. Apr. 1891. Noy. 1893. Dec. 1893. Oct. 1893. Dec. 1891. Sept. 1894. Apr. 1896. Nov. 1897. Noy. 1894. Apr. 1897. Novy. 1888. Sept. 1888. Apr. 1897. Apr. 1896. Sept. 1888. Noy. 1897. Apr. 1897. 2nd Edition. PART XXV. Noy. 1893. 39 XV. Aug. 1892. FOOL. June 1895. XXXII. Apr. 1896. XXVII. Aug. 1894. XIX. Feb. 1893. XV. Aug. 1892. XXXII. Apr. 1896. ” XX, Mar. 1898. xe Dec. 1891. XXIV. Oct. 1893. XXXIV. Apr. 1897 XXXYVY. Nov. 1897. XIX. Feb. 1893. XXV. Nov. 1893. XXVI. Dec. 1898. XXIV. Oct. 1893. XG diwilhy is) XXVIII. Sept. 1894. XXXII. Apr. 1896. XXXV. Noy. 1897. XXIX. Noy. 1894. DOORS Kjos ISO NAUOES wanes el - VII. July 1831. XXXIV. Apr. 1897. XXXII. Apr. 1896. Vil. July 1891. XXXY. Noy. 1897. XXXIV. Apr. 1897. cist OF PLATES IN VOLUME VI. To face page . Buack Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra (Linn.) 1 . Wurre-wineep Brack Tern. Hydrochelidon leu- coptera (Schinz) : 3 . WHISKERED TERN. Pa deecielidon Meare (Pallas) 5 . GuLL-BILLED Tern. Sterna anglica, Montagu 9 . Caspian Tern. Sterna caspia, Pallas cee Le Sanpwicu Tern, Sterna cantiaca, J. F. Gmelin. 13 . Rosrate Tern. Sterna dougalli, Montagu. 15 . Common Tern. Sterna fluviatilis, Naum. . EZ . Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Naum. 20 . Lirrte Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. 21 . Soory Tern. Sterna fuliginosa, J. F. Gitalin- 26 . Lesser Sooty Tern. Sterna anestheta, Scopoli . 28 . Noppy Tern. Anous stolidus (Linn.) 29 . SaBine’s Gut. Larus sabinii, J. Sabine 32 . CUNEATE-TAILED GutL. Larus roseus, Macg. 33 . Do. Do. Immature and winter . 34. . Bonaparte’s Gutu. Larus philadelphicus (Ord) . . 85 . Litrre Guiyi. Larus minutus, Pall. . ao . Buack-HEADED Gut. Larus ridibundus, Linn. 39 . MeprirerraNgeaN Buack-HEeapep Gui. Larus melanocephalus, Natterer 43 Vili PLATES IN VOL. VI. To face page 21. Great Brack-neapep GuLtu. Larus ichthyaetus, Pall. 2. Sa Oe SR ee 2. Common Guiu. Larus canus, Linn... . . . A9 Oo 3. Herrinc-Guui. Larus argentatus, J. F. Gace 51 . Lesser Brack-Backep Guit. Larus fuscus, Linn. 59 Great BLack-BacKeD GuLL. Larus marinus,Linn. 57 26. Graucous Guit. Larus glaucus,O. Fabricius . 59 www w io Or 27. Do; Do: | immature y.. 7. + ayer 60 28. Icenanpn Guui. Larus ere US, epaue : Teese On 29. Kirriwake. Rissa tridactyla (inn.) . . . - 68 30. Ivory Gutt. Pagophila eburnea (Phipps). . . 68 31. Great Sxua. Lestris catarrhacites (Limn.) . . 69 32. Twist-raitep Sxua. Lestris pomatorhinus, Temm. \ 7 33. Do. Do. 34. Ricuarpson’s Sxvua. Lestris richardsoni,Swainson. 79d 35. Lone-raitep or Burron’s Sxua. Lestris para- siticus (Linn.) . . Ses ee, WG “eat, cee a 36. Razorspity. Alca torda, Ta erence i! tate iS) of. GReat AUK. Alea mmpennis, Vann. <= 2 9.5 Ol 38. Common Guittemot. Uria troile (Linn.) . . . 83 39. Brtnwnicn’s Guittemot. Uria bruennichi, E. Sabie. ‘Summer plumage 27 9 =e) on een 40. Do. Do. Winter plumage . 2 te See 41. Brack Guittemor. Uria grylle (aon Ree Bese). 2) | 42. Lirrte Aux. Mergulusalle(Linn.). . . . . QA 43. Purrin. Fratercula arctica (limn.) . . . . . 96 44, Great NortHern Diver. Colymdus glacialis,Linn. 97 45. WHuITE-BILLED Great NorTHERN Diver. Colymbus adams, "G. Wi. Gray” ho. ee ee 46. Buack-rHroatep Diver. Colymbus arcticus, Linn. 104 47. Rep-rHroatep Diver. Colymbus septentrionalis, Taimm.~) 2) a 3 Vs OE 48. Great Crestep Grese. Podiceps cristutus (Linn.). 109 49. Rep-neckep Grese. Podiceps griseigena (Bod- Gaert) 20.55 Say eT PLATES IN VOL. VI. . Lesser Crestep, Hornep, or ScLavonian GREBE. Podiceps auritus (Linn.) . . . . . Earep Gress. Podiceps nigricollis, C. L. Brehm. . Lirrte Grese or Dascuick. Podiceps minor (Briss. ) . Storm-Perret. Procellaria pelagica, Linn. . Forx-tartep Perret. Procellaria leucorrhoa, Vieillot . Ripeway’s Perret. Procellaria cryptoleucura (Ridgway) . LONG-LEGGED or Wiutson’s PETREL. Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl) ode ee ea ae . WHITE-FACED PETREL. Pelagodroma marina (Latham) . . Great SHearwater. Puffinus major, Faber . Sooty SuzarwaTerR. Pufinus griseus (Gmel.) . Manx Suearwater. Pufinus anglorum (Temm.). . Dusky Suearwater. Pufinus obscurus (Gmel.) . . Butwer’s Perret. Procellaria bulweri, Jard. & Selb. . CotzareD Perret. (MHstrelata brevipes (Peale) . Capped Perret. (Méstrelata hesitata (Kuhl) . Furmar. Fulmarus glacialis (Linn.) . c 1-77 VOL, VI. ) 1x To face page 115 Le? 119 123 127 130 131 134 136 138 140 141 144 146 148 150 ‘(uur BABU UOplayooupk}H "Nwadk slOVv De En Ney *NOGNO1 "O1GNLS LYY OHLIT-ONOYHD BLACK TERN. HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA (Linn.). Sterna nigra, Linn. 8. N.i. p. 227 (1766) ; Naum. x. p. 189 ; Hewitson, i. p. 488. Hydrochelidon nigra, Macg,. v. p. 658; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 516 ; Dresser, viii. p. 327. Guifette noire, French; Schwarze See-Schwalbe, German ; Golondrina de mar negra, Charran negro, Spanish. This bird, though it formerly bred in abundance in England, has now, from the drainage and reclamation of its favourite marshes, become an irregular and not very common straggler to our country. It was, well within the memory of living man, a regular vernal migrant to many parts of our fen-countries, and was well-known by various local names, e.g. “ Blue Darr,” “ Car-Swallow,” ‘“Starn,” ‘“ Dare,” and “Skelper.” My acquaintance with this Marsh-Tern in England is confined to having occasionally met with it during its wanderings in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, but we found it nesting in great abundance in Southern Spain in company with the Whiskered Tern. As its habits very closely resemble those of that species, and are alluded to in my article thereon in this work, I do not go into any details concerning them in this place. I have seen hundreds of the eggs of this bird at various {imes in Leadenhall Market, received there from the marshes of the Netherlands with those of many other species. In common with all the other European members of the marsh or freshwater-Tern family, this species lives principally upon various insects and leeches; tadpoles are also favourite morsels. I have met with the Black Tern in small numbers in various parts of the Mediter- ranean, and also in Switzerland, and found one pair, with their nest and eggs, im close vicinity to a colony of Common Terns on an islet of one of the brackish lagoons of Sardinia. In my experience this bird is a somewhat scarce vernal migrant to the Ionian Islands, where it makes no stay, nor did I find it breeding on the mainland opposite to these islands, although there was no lack of apparently very suitable localities in Epirus and Albania. Mr. H. Saunders states that the winter range of this Tern is scarcely known to extend beyond North Africa, Egypt, and Palestine; but that it is of tolerably general diffusion in the breeding-season throughout Europe from Southern Sweden southwards. td ‘(mmyg) e4aydoona] woplpeyooipaAyy ‘NHL WOVIG CAGHONIM-ALIHM “UILLOg ‘OAotH “MQ *OUTNT WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN. HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPTERA (Schinz). Sterna leucoptera, Schinz in Meisn. & Schinz’s Vég. d. Schweiz, p. 264 (1815); Naum. x. p. 215. Hydrochelidon leucoptera, Macg. v. p. 661; Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p- 522; Dresser, viii. p. 321. Hirondelle de mer leucoptére, French; Weéissfliigelige Seeschwalbe, German; Fumareil, Valencian; Alsio, Catalan. This bird, though never abundant in our country, may be considered as a frequent vernal visitor to England and Ireland, and from its close resemblance in size, form, and habits to the Black Tern, it is more than possible that it may in former years often have escaped special notice or record. At the present time, however, the Black Tern is nearly, if not quite, as casual a visitor as the present species, and British bird- collectors would, I fear, show as little mercy to the one as to the other. ‘The White-winged Black Tern was very common during the vernal passage in April and May in the Ionian marshes ; but I could not ascertain that it bred either in the islands or on the opposite main- land of Epirus. We met with it in great abundance near Paphos in May, and I have no doubt that it breeds in many of the freshwater or brackish marshes of Cyprus. The only difference of habit that I could perceive between this species and the Black Tern was that its flight is somewhat less wavering and indirect than that of the latter species; but I must admit that I have never visited a breeding locality of this, as I have many of the former bird. The White-winged Black Tern is known as a vernal migrant throughout the Mediterranean, and breeds (fide Yarrell) in some parts of Southern Germany, Hungary, Poland, and throughout Southern Russia. In Spain, though common cn the eastern coast in May, I never met with it in Andalucia, and have only on one occasion received a few specimens from that province. The diet of this species consists almost exclusively of insects taken on the wing or from the surface of lakes and ponds. fi “(ymq) eplugay uoplayooupsy "NYA L GHAANSITAHM *NOGNO7 ‘O1aNis LYY “OHL!IT-ONOYHD Sah WHISKERED TERN. HYDROCHELIDON HYBRIDA (Pallas). Sterna hybrida, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-As. 11. p. 338 (1811). Sterna leucopareia, Naum. x. p. 168 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 483. Hydrochelidon leucopareia, Macg. v. p. 663. Hydrochelidon hybrida, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 527 ; Dresser, viii. p. 815. Hirondelle de mer moustac, French ; Golondrina de mar, Charran, Spanish. This Marsh-Tern is a very rare straggler to our country. I only find six occurrences recorded by Mr. Howard Saunders; it is, in fact, a southern species, and our Islands lie far to the northward of its habitual range. I became intimately acquainted with this bird in a certain wild district of Southern Spain, where we found it in great abundance nesting in company with the Black Tern and many other birds of various species, upon some small freshwater lakelets,—I can hardly call them lakes, and ponds would convey the idea of human agency in their formation. It was more than pleasant to lie amongst the rushes on the sandy banks of these waters in the splendid sunshine of an Andalucian May, and to watch the birds; of these the most locally abundant were the Whiskered and the Black Tern, whose nests were on the water amongst thick masses of a white-flowered weed, or on the rubbish left on the banks by the subsidence of winter floods. Here were also, at the time of our visits, many Grebes of three species, their nests interspersed with those of the Terns on the tangle of weed that covered considerable portions of the water-surface. Stilts, Red- shanks, and other Waders were clamorous around us, whilst Bee-eaters coursed the upper air, and Warblers of many species sang and chattered amongst the bul- rushes. Harriers were constantly sailing about, and, as a matter of course in Andalucia, a Vulture or two soared high above all. I am only writing of what might be taken in at a glance, and will not here refer to several other birds whose nests we discovered on close examination of our surroundings. I must in honesty confess that the mosquito was not absent from this ornithological paradise, but tobacco and the birds rendered us indifferent to his attacks, and personally I have always considered this insect as far less irritating than the homely midge of our own country. To come back to the special subject of my present article, the Terns disturbed at our appearance rose in a cloud, and dashed about us with great clamour till we had satisfied our greed by taking some of their eges by riding into the water and ladling them out of the nests ; but they took very little notice of our presence as we sat about the margin of the tarns after this operation, and many of them settled quietly down upon their eggs within a few yards of us, whilst others hawked about unconcernedly after flying insects, or dipped for the leeches and water-beetles that swarmed amongst the weeds. I could discover no difference between the habits of this bird and those of the Black Tern, which was perhaps the more numerous of the two species in the locality of which I am treating, but there is a slight difference in the note, that of the present bird being somewhat harsher and more prolonged than that of the other. ‘The nests of the Whiskered Tern, how- ever, were generally composed of various water-plants only, and were often of considerable bulk, whilst those of the Black Tern were much slighter, flatter, and generally had some broken reed-stems, pieces of rushes, and occasionally some twigs as a foundation. The eggs of the Whiskered Tern are three in com- plement, and are easily to be distinguished from those of any other European Tern by their elongated shape and invariable pale, but decided green ground-colour. In Spain this Tern is a summer migrant, arriving towards the end of April, and departing in July or early in August; but I frequently met with it about the shores of the Ionian Sea in late autumn and winter. From the accounts of authors it appears that the range of the Whiskered Tern extends from the extreme west of Africa and Europe, with certain breaks of continuity, to China and the Philippines. It breeds abundantly in the marshes of North Africa; but I never met with it in the western basin of the Mediterranean. ‘ninjuoy “eOySUR wUIE}S NYaGL GHATTIa-T1InS “UTpIOg ‘eAetH “WA ‘OUTT G <<< % GULL-BILLED TERN. STERNA ANGLICA, Montagu. Sterna anglica, Montagu, Orn. Dict., Suppl. (1813) ; Naum. x. p. 388; Hewitson, iil. p. 476; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 531; Dresser, viii. p. 295. Sterne-hansel, French; Lach-Meerschwalbe, German ; Charran, Cagara, Golondrina de mar, Spanish, This species is an occasional and uncommon visitor to our country, and was first made known by Colonel Montagu from specimens obtained in Sussex and Kent. My personal acquaintance with this Tern is confined to the shores of the Ionian Sea (where I frequently noticed it in February and March) and to certain localities in Andalucia, where it breeds in great abundance. In many of its habits, as well as in certain points of form, this bird, as the editor of the 4th ed. of ‘ Yarrell’ truly remarks, approaches the Marsh-Terns more closely than do any others of the European Sea-Terns. In my own limited experience I specially noticed that it frequently takes beetles from dry ground, and captures flying insects on wing. Its manner of flight, which is com- paratively wavering, and frequently broken by pauses to hover, at once distinguishes it from the Sandwich Tern, to which in distribution of colour and in size it bears a strong resemblance. In Spain the Gull-billed Tern breeds not only on the sandy sea-shores, but also in very great numbers upon the islets left in the “marisma”’ of the Guadalquivir by the subsidence of the winter floods. ‘The cry of this Tern differs considerably from that of any other with which I am acquainted, and is a sort of laughing chatter varied by an occasional screech. This bird is said to breed on the coast and islands belonging to Denmark, and I know of its doing so on the lagoons of Mesolonghi. JI am not aware of its nesting in any European locality besides those already mentioned, but its range extends to China, Ceylon, and Australia, and it is not uncommon in certain districts of North and South America. som “eidses Busto}S ““NaYaL NVIdSyvyo “UIPHO ST “8A9.1D “MA ‘OUIT c CASPIAN TERN. STERNA CASPIA, Pallas. Sterna caspia, Pall. Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. p. 582 (1769) ; Naum. x. p. 18; Hewitson, i. p. 477; Yarr. ed. 4, iu. p. 5386; Dresser, viii. p. 289. Sylochelidon caspia, Macg. v. p. 626. Raub-Meerschwalbe, German; Golondrina de mar grande, Charran, Spanish. The Caspian Tern is a rare straggler to our shores ; almost all of its recorded occurrences in England have taken place in the eastern counties, and the majority of these records refer to the months of May, June, July, and August. My personal acquaintance with this fine Tern is very small, and (with the exception of a pair observed on the Guadalquivir in May 1883) confined to the Ionian Sea and the coast of Cyprus. From what I have read and the little that I have seen of this species, I gather that its habits closely resemble those of the other European Sea-Terns, as distinct from the marsh or freshwater-loving members of the family. The eggs are laid on the bare sand, the food consists exclusively of fish, taken by “stoops” from the air, the flight is graceful and buoyant, and the note is harsh and discordant. I think that pretty much the same remarks apply generally to all of the British Sea-Terns. I observe that the editor of the 4th edition of ‘ Yarrell’ mentions that the Caspian Tern has a characteristic habit of keeping its bill poimted downwards when searching for food. I can corroborate this from my own experience, but I have very frequently noticed the same habit in other species. From the authority just referred to, I glean that this bird may be roughly said to range over nearly the whole of Europe, a considerable region of Asia, the entire coast of Africa, and the east and west coasts of N. America from Labrador and the Bering Sea to Florida and North Mexico. It is also found in Australia and New Zealand. In Europe it breeds in Sweden, Denmark, and certain localities in the Mediterranean; but in my somewhat extensive experience of that sea I never had the good fortune to meet with its nest or eggs. In Spain it is certainly an uncommon bird, although I have reason to believe that it occasionally breeds upon the Balearic Islands. myauy qT op “eave. eUIA4S ‘NHadL HOIMAGNYS “uTpIeg “OAGLH “MM OUTT ; aA SANDWICH TERN. STERNA CANTIACA, J. F. Gmelin. Sterna cantiaca, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 606 (1788) ; Naum. x. p. 50; Macg. v. p. 630; Hewitson, il. p. 478; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 540; Dresser, vill. p. 301. Hirondelle de mer Caugek, French; Brand-Meerschwalve, German; Golondrina de mar, Spanish. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that this handsome bird, which is by no means uncommon in several British localities, should have retained, since 1784, the name of the ancient town near which it was observed and obtained for the first time in this country in that year. I have no sort of ill feeling towards Sandwich either in its primary or secondary signification, but it strikes me that the word as applied to this bird is nearly as absurd as “ Bohemian” Waxwing or “Dartford” Warbler. I have seen but very little of this species in our Islands, and have never visited any of its breeding-haunts, but I have met with it frequently in the Mediterranean, and rarely in the Ionian and Adriatic seas. In all its habits, as observed by me, it closely resembles the other Sea- Terns of my acquaintance, but when travelling its flight is more direct and less wavering than that of the Common or the Little Tern. We do not often hear of the occurrence of the present species at any great distance from salt water, but I have a very fine pair of adult birds stuffed, that were killed on the Isis in Port Meadow, close to Oxford, about 1853. This is the only species of Tern that I have ever kept or attempted to keep in captivity; at the present moment (August 21, 1894) I have two fine young birds that I received from the north of England on June 27. They refused to eat for the first few days after their arrival at Lilford, and had to be forcibly crammed, but they now feed greedily upon small fishes or pieces of large ones; they are remarkably tame, and very peace- able with the many other species that inhabit the same compartment of our aviary. The elongated feathers of the occipital crest are already very noticeable in these youngsters. Hgg-collectors and dealers have done their utmost to exterminate this beautiful bird in our country, and as it does not leave our coasts till after the end of - close-time, it is, of course, liable to slaughter by the loafers who supply “wings” for plumiferous human females. 7/ ninjuoy “T[eonop euqzsyS NaadL ALVWaSOY ROSEATE TERN, STERNA DOUGALLI, Montagu. Sterna dougalli, Montagu, Orn. Dict. Suppl. (1813) ; Macg. v. p. 648; Hewitson, ii. p. 479. Sterna dougalli, Naum. x. p. 78; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 544; Dresser, vill. p. 273. Sterne de Dougall, French; Dougall’s Seeschwalbe, Ger- man. This very beautiful species, formerly a_ tolerably common summer visitor to several localities on our Islands, has become of late years a decidedly rare British bird. My friend Mr. Howard Saunders, in his excellent ‘Manual,’ attributes the present scarcity of this Tern in our country mainly to the increase of the Common Tern, a stronger-billed and altogether more robust bird, and informs us that he has been assured that three colonies of the Roseate have successively given way to the former Tern on the coast of Brittany in the course of a few years. I saw a very few of the present species about one of the islets of the Scilly group in 1852; my attention was drawn to them at once by the difference between their note and that of the Common Tern, and their more slender forms and the great length of the tail-feathers satisfied me that I saw the Roseate Tern for the first and, (as it has proved to be) the only time. The peculiarities just mentioned proved fatal to what I believe to be the only recorded Norfolk specimen of this Tern: this specimen was given to me by the friend who shot it, and I had the pleasure of presenting it to the Norfolk and Norwich Museum. From what I have just said, it is obvious that I am not competent to tell anything of the general habits of this species from personal observation, for, as a matter of fact, I only saw one on the first day of my explorations in Scilly, and two, possibly three, on a subsequent occasion. For particulars concerning the nesting and distribution of this Tern, I must therefore refer my readers to our standard authorities, merely adding, from one of these authorities, that it is much more abundant in America than in Europe. rf. Z/ uN ‘SIRIANY eU193¢ ‘NaAaL NOWWOO UO SADIE “AL “OUFTT COMMON TERN. STERNA FLUVIATILIS, Naum. Sterna fluviatilis, Nawm. Isis, 1819, p. 1848; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 549; Dresser, vill. p. 263. Sterna hirundo, Naum. x. p. 89; Macy. v. p. 638; Hewitson, ii, p. 480. Pierre-Garin, French; Gemeine Meerschwalbe, German ; Golondrina de mar, Charrdn, Spanish. This very graceful bird, which is commonly known as “Sea-Swallow,” is a spring migrant to this country, generally arriving early in May, nesting on the sandy and shingly portions of our coasts, and not uncommonly on the pebbly margins of lakes, taking its departure in September or October. During both seasons of migra- tion the Common Tern wanders along the courses of our rivers to long distances from the sea; but, as a rule, breeds in the neighbourhood of salt water. The eggs, three in number, are laid, with very little in the way of a nest, on sand or shingle. A flock of Terns hovering over and stooping into the “summer sea”’ is a very interesting and beautiful sight that might some years ago have been enjoyed within easy reach of many of our most frequented sea-side resorts, and is, no doubt, still to be seen in certain localities remote from the haunts of man. But, alas! this bird is one of the many that the plumassiers consider as an appropriate “set-off” for the heads of their custo- mers, and I have frequently been horrified at seeing the whole skin of a Tern stuck in front of a woman’s hat, with the addition of glass eyes, generally red or yellow, but never of the right colour; the forked tails also of this species and of the Little Tern are very common disfigurements to the occasionally otherwise attractive heads of the slaves of barbarous Fashion. The food of this ‘Tern consists almost exclusively of small fishes. I never noticed it in pursuit of flying insects, which form a large part of the diet of the Marsh-Terns, Hydrochelidon. I have met with this species throughout the Mediter- ranean and on some of the lakes of Northern Italy and Switzerland. , ' _ 7 , . Ai 7 ‘ € , ' / ' - ’ J 3 4 7 - %. @ _ - ng - ‘ — -_ a g ~~ i = ane ¢ ARCTIC TERN. STERNA MACRURA, Naum. Sterna macrura, Naum. Isis, 1819, p. 1847; Naum. x. p.114; Yarr. ed. 4, 11. p. 553. Sterna arctica, Macg. v. p.643; Hewitson, u. p. 481. Sterna hirundo, Dresser, vill. p. 255. Nordische See-Schwalbe, German. As this is a species with which I have virtually no personal acquaintance, except in cabinets and glass-cases, I will only say that it is the most abundant species of its family throughout the northern portions of the British Islands, and, in fact, of those of Europe in general. It is, however, by no means strictly confined to the extreme north, and breeds on many of the islands off the south and west coast of Ireland. In food and habits this bird is said hardly to vary from the Common Tern. In adult plumage the Arctic may always be distinguished from the Common Tern by its dark grey underparts, longer tail-feathers, wholly red bill, and very short tarsi, whilst the immature birds may, according to Mr. H. Saunders, be always recognized by the narrowness of the dark line that runs along the shaft on the inner webs of the primaries. ‘This line is both darker and more extensive in the Common Tern. The range of this species extends from “as far north as human foot has trodden” to Brazil, Peru, and Table Bay. munvAT “BdNdOBVW BUd]S Seles (0G fed Fer I ae Je a I "NOONO1 ‘OIOGNLS LUY "OHLI1-OWOKHD i/ way “eMUIuI e0IE1S NaaL AIL “Uypog “OAT *M ‘OUTET LITTLE TERN. STERNA MINUTA, Linn. Sterna minuta, Linn. 8. N.1. p. 228 (1766) ; Naum. x. p. 145 ; Macg. v. p. 652; Hewitson, ii. p. 484; Yarr, ed. 4, iii, p. 558; Dresser, viii. p. 279. Sterne naine, French; Zwerg-Seeschwalbe, German ; Charranchico, Catalinita, Moncheta, Spanish. This exceedingly graceful bird is a summer visitor to the coasts and lakes of Great Britain and Ireland, generally arriving early in May, and taking its departure in September. In all its habits the Little Tern closely resembles the Common Tern or “ Sea-Swallow ; * but I never met with the present species in its breeding- haunts in such numbers as I frequently have in the case of the former bird. On an unfrequented stretch of sandy coast, that I will not particularize, I many years ago found a considerable number of Little Terns breeding. No nest is made, and the eggs, of which I consider three as the average full complement, are very difficult to discover till the eye becomes accustomed to distinguish them by their shape from the mottled pebbles amongst which they are generally layed. The birds are extraordinarily tame, and often remain on the eggs till the intruder is within a few feet, when they usually walk off to a few yards distance, or take wing and hover closely around, uttering a short grating note. In the locality to which I allude many Sea-Pies and Ringed Plovers were also breeding at the time of my visits, and their agitation and endeavours to draw our attention away from their eggs and young were curiously in contrast with the feigned indifference of the Terns. In one instance we discovered two very recently hatched Ring-Plovers cowering over three eggs of the Little Tern. The Editor of the 4th edition of ‘ Yarrell* refers to some eggs of this species taken at the end of the North Wall, Dublin ; and I have found some within a few yards of a constantly frequented footway in Spain. In the same country I have often watched these Terns fishing within a few yards of the spot upon which I and others sat on the shore, or in our boat, without any attempt at concealment. From its great beauty and marvellous tameness, the Little Tern is a special object of pursuit to the loafers who infest our sea-coasts, and shoot at every bird that presents itself; and, alas! the bodies of this Tern find a ready sale for the decoration of the hats and bonnets of thoughtless womankind. It is not very long ago since I met, on the favourite promenade of a well-known sea-side resort, a young woman who evidently con- sidered that her natural attractions were enhanced by the exhibition of a whole skin of one of these Terns, with wings extended, and glass eyes of bright orange, in the front of her hat, the sides of which were respec- tively adorned with about half of a West-African Glossy Starling and the wing of a Kingfisher. Let us hope that this fair one may have been brought to a sense of decency, as have many others of her sex, through the praiseworthy exertions of the Ladies’ Society for the Protection of Birds. I have met with this Tern at various seasons on all parts of the Mediterranean shores, and found it breeding on the great lagoons of Sardinia. RE a cess ee po italia a wt _ “ SOOTY TERN. STERNA FULIGINOSA, J. F. Gmelin. Sterna fuliginosa, J. F. Gmelin, 8S. N.i. p. 605; Naum. xiii. (Schluss) p. 267; Dresser, viii. p. 307; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p- 562. The Sooty Tern has been noticed three times in England, and a few instances are recorded of its occurrence on the Continent. Its home is the tropical seas of nearly the whole circuit of the world. Vast numbers gather together at the breeding-season on certain islands, such as Ascension, where the assemblage is called a ‘“ Wide- awake Fair.” [O. S.] ‘uyoup ‘yf S@SOULSI[NY BUIDIS ‘NASAL ALOOS lis 4 ¢ Pa ULL "PABLH “AX “ONBWT LESSER SOOTY TERN. STERNA ANZSTHETA, Scopoli. Sterna anestheta, Scopolt, Del. Faun. et Flor. Insubr. i. p. 92 ; Saunders, Zool. 1877, p. 213; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 101. Sterna panayensis, J. F. Gmelin, S. N. 1. p. 607. Mr. Howard Saunders reported in 1877 that he had examined a specimen of this species said to have been captured on one of the lightships at the mouth of the Thames in September 1875. I'he range of the Lesser Sooty Tern encircles the globe in tropical and subtropical seas. The probability of a straggling bird occurring on our shores is at least as great as one of either the Sooty or Noddy Tern doing so. [O. S.] ‘nodosg “BJIYJSBUY BUIIS "NHL ALOOS YASSAT WIPTOY @A0TH “A *ONITT . eae y ‘ ~ ss “Cumy) SNpTpTOys snouy ‘NYadL AACCGCON turprogy ‘oAom + MA ‘OUITT L iin “iad plahorane es NODDY TERN. ANOUS STOLIDUS (Linn.). Sterna stolida, Linn. S. N. i. p. 227 (1766); Hewitson, ii. p. 486. Megalopterus stolidus, Macg. v. p. 672. Anoiis stolidus, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 567. As this is a species with which I have no acquaintance except in museums, | therefore quote from ‘Yarrell’ to the effect that the only authentic record of its capture in British territory was sent by the late William Thompson to the ‘Magazine of Zoology and Botany,’ and refers to two specimens that were said to have been taken in the summer about 1830, between the Tuskar Lighthouse and Dublin Bay by the captain of a vessel, who brought them to Mr. William Massey, of the Pigeon House, Dublin. One of these two birds is now in the Science and Art Museum of that city. The Noddy is of general distribution throughout the tropics. An interesting account of its breeding-habits is quoted at length from Audubon in the 4th ed. of ‘Yarrell,’ vol. ui. pp. 568-570; this quotation is fol- lowed by another from a letter written to John Gould by Mr. Gilbert, who collected for him in Western Australia, and describes the habits of the Noddy as observed by the writer in that part of the world. I do not go into details of these quotations, as I pre- sume that the work that contains them is, as it certainly ought to be, at hand to most of those who take interest enough in birds to honour me by subscribing to my picture-book. on ‘ SABINE’S GULL. LARUS SABINI, J. Sabine. Larus sabini, J. Sabine, Trans. Linn. Soe. xu. p. 522 (1818). Larus sabinu, Naum. xiii. pt. 2, p. 272. Gavia sabini, Macg. v. p. 607. Xema sabinii, Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 573; Dresser, viii. p. 337. This bird is an irregular and scarce visitor to our country from high northern latitudes. I have never met with Sabine’s Gull alive ; but gather from our recent authorities that between thirty and forty occurrences have been recorded in our Islands; that, with few exceptions, these occurrences have taken place during the months of August, September, and October, and that the specimens obtaimed have, with very few excep- tions, been young birds of the year. I am indebted to Mr. J. Backhouse for the loan of two specimens of this species in skin, for the use of this work: these two Gulls were obtained near Brid- lington, in September 1890, and from one of them the figure of the immature bird in the Plate was taken. I find that Sabine’s Gull has recently been discovered breeding in large numbers in the marshes of Alaska. ‘ouqng “¢ “tuiqes sniey ‘TITAS SANIGYS “UILLog, 9AaID “M “OUNT if " “a r snivey Sue . IND GaTIVL-aALYANNO we : : “ ‘Honyy *SNasor CUNEATE-TAILED GULL. RHODOSTETHIA ROSEA (Macyg.). Larus roseus, Macgillivray, Mem. Wern. Soc. v. p. 249 (1824). Rhodostethia rossii, Macg. v. p. 618. Larus rossi, Naum. xii. pt. 2, p. 270. Rhodostethia rosea, Yarr. ed. 4, 11. p. 597; Dresser, viii. p- 343, It is perhaps superfluous to state that I am totally unacquainted personally with this very rare Arctic bird, whose claim to a place in the British list rests upon a single occurrence, of which I transcribe the details from the fourth edition of ‘ Yarrell’s British Birds,’ vol. iii. p- 580, as supplied to the ‘Zoolegist’ by Mr. Henry Milner, who states that the Lesser Gull was killed by Horner, Lord Howden’s head keeper, in February, 1847, in a ploughed field, near the hamlet of Milton-cum- Kirby, in the parish of Kirby. Its flight resembled, according to Horner’s account, the flight of any other Gull, and it did not seem at all shy. Some doubt appears to attach to the above account, but, as Mr. Howard Saunders writes, “inasmuch as this Arctic species has undoubtedly wandered in winter to Heligoland and the Feeroes, there is at least no inherent improbability in its occurrence in Yorkshire, and it has been generally added to the British List.” I will “ crib” no more about this bird, but, for necessary details concerning it, refer my readers, not for the first time, to Mr. H. Saunders’s ‘Manual’ and conclude with an expression of sincere gratitude to my friend Professor Alfred Newton, for the loan of the specimen from which one of the accom- panying Plates was taken. ——— a Sanne eee eeeeneeneeeeceeeee=aeeees = ‘Cbomy) B2S01 eIYJ@\SOpoy x Wajuin pun aanjoumy "TIN AATIVL-ALYAaNNO ~ “NILLeg ‘oaody “My cour 3 vce NR A NAN CE EN" AOL TREY I NEC LTE ITI pug “erydjepefiyd snzeTy ‘TINO SALAVYdIYNOd “UIPieg 2940.19 "MA ‘OUFT BONAPARTE'S GULL. LARUS PHILADELPHIA (Ord). Sterna philadelphia, Ord, in Guthrie’s Geogr. 2nd Amer. ed. ii, p. 319 (1815). Gavia bonapartil, Macg. v. p. 610. Larus philadelphia, Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 584; Dresser, viii. p. 356. This American Gull is a scarce and accidental strageler to our Islands. I find that the editor of the 4th ed. of ‘Yarrell,’ in his article upon this species, published in March 1884, only records five British occurrences as positively authenticated; of these the earliest was at Belfast on the Ist of February, 1848, the next in Scotland about the end of April 1850; these are fol- lowed by three occurrences in England, viz. one in Falmouth Harbour on the 4th of January, 1865, another at Penryn on the 10th of the same month, and the last at St. Leonards early in November 1870. Two other supposed occurrences in Ireland are alluded to in the article to which I have referred, but the first of these was, to my personal knowledge, a case of mistaken identity. My readers will, I trust, excuse me from hunting up further records, and remain content with the assurance that this Gull has been met with on our coasts on more than one occasion besides those above specified. There is, however, no doubt that many mistakes have arisen from the close resemblance of the present species in immature plumage to our common mis-named bilack- headed Gull. Bonaparte’s Gull is somewhat smaller than the last-named, and, according to the editor from whom I have above quoted, may be distinguished in all stages by the white margins to the inner webs of the outer primaries. As I know nothing whatever about this bird from personal experience or observation, I will only add that I gather from the authors quoted in ‘Yarrell,’ doc. supra cit., that it visits the Atlantic coasts of the North-eastern United States in great numbers in April and May, and again in autumn, that its breeding- grounds extend over the greater part of Arctic America, that it nests m colonies, generally building on trees, and that its habits very closely resemble those of the other species above mentioned. In winter it is said to be abundant on the coast of Florida. It is not known to breed within the boundaries of the United States. ee 7 “Pd ‘Snynulu snie7y “TITNS ATITLLIVI AI, 9AGLD *M “OUITT LITTLE GULL. LARUS MINUTUS, Pall. Larus minutus, Pallas, Reise Russ. Reichs, iii., App. p. 702 (1776) ; Naum. x. p. 242; Hewitson, ii. p. 490; Yarr. ed, 4, ili. p. 589; Dresser, vin. p. 373. Gavia minuta, Macg. v. p. 613. Mouette pygmée, French; Zwerg-Méve, German; Gaviota, Spanish. This very graceful species is by no means a very uncommon visitor to our coasts, especially to those of our eastern counties, but its visits are very irregular, generally taking place in the autumn or winter, and there is, so far as I am aware, not even a recorded suspicion of its having ever nested in our Islands. Specimens in the adult summer dress, with black heads, have been met with in Yorkshire and in Ireland. My personal acquaintance with this Gull is confined to the Mediterranean ; it was by no means uncommon, although not very abundant, in the Bay of Corfu during the late autumn and winter months, but disappeared about the beginning of March, and I observed it frequently on the east coast of Sicily, at Messina, Catania, Agosta, and Syracuse, and now and then in the harbours of Malta, during the last-named month. Its habits, as observed by me on these occasions, exactly resembled those of the other European Gulls with which it consorted ; it is very fearless, and had we been so disposed we might have shot a good many Little Gulls from the deck of our vessels at anchor in the harbours that I have mentioned. Doctor H. Guillemard obtained and sent to me two specimens of this Gull obtained in Cyprus in February 1888, but I did not meet with it in that island, pro- bably because it had departed for its nesting-quarters before our arrival in April 1875. T[ could not discover that the Little Gull remains to breed upon any part of the Mediterranean shores or islands. Mr. W. H. Hudleston, who has given us in the ‘Ibis’ a most graphic account of his ornithological researches in the Dobrudscha, including interesting details regarding this species as oberved by him it that province, noticed a rapid dimimution of its numbers from the latter end of April, and came to the conclusion that it does not breed in that locality at all. This Gull has been found nesting in large colonies on the lakes in the Ural, and Mr. Dresser gives a very full account in his ‘ Birds of Europe’ of its nesting in the vicinity of Lake Ladoga, as communicated to him by Mr. W. Meves, of Stock- holm. I gather from this account that in general habits, the situation of its nests, number of eggs, and diet of small fishes and insects, the present species differs but little from Larus ridibundus and some of the Marsh- ‘Terns. The Little Gull visits the Baltic and the North Sea, and ranges across Siberia to the Lena, but, according to the 4th ed. of ‘ Yarrell,’ from which I quote. these latter localities, it has only been ouce recorded as occurring in Northern India. Tray {i “uuey ‘snpundipi4 sniey ‘TINS GaadvaH—-wAoOv1a ‘UlLleg 9AGID "A “OUTIT BLACK-HEADED GULL. LARUS RIDIBUNDUS, Linn. Larus ridibundus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 225 (1766) ; Naum. x. p- 264; Hewitson, ii. p. 491; Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 594; Dresser, viii. p. 357. Gavia ridibunda, Macg. v. p. 593. Gavia capistrata, Macg. v. p. 605. Goéland rieur, French; Lachméve, German; Gavina, Gaviota pequena, Spanish. I must commence my remarks upon this species by expressing my compunction for adopting for it the commonly applied but obvious misnomer of “ Black- headed,” for at no season of the year has this Gull any black about the head; whilst the term is very correctly applied to another well-known European species, Larus melanocephalus. 1 can only say that in thus miscalling the present bird my sole excuse is general custom; and I would ask my brother ornithologists why we should not henceforth agree to call it Brown-headed Gull; at all events this designation would serve to distinguish our bird from any other British Gull. In most parts of our Islands the name “Common ” would apply at least as well to this Gull as to the species that is known by that epithet ; for although the latter is certamly “ common ” enough, its breeding-haunts are confined to Scotland and Ireland, whereas the present species breeds locally in great numbers throughout the United Kingdom. This Gull is resident with us, though its inland nesting- places are deserted for the sea-coast in the winter months ; rough weather, however, or a flood on any of our larger rivers will generally bring these birds in considerable flocks to considerable distances from the salt-water at any time of the year. In many parts of England these Gulls may be seen following the plough, and in Norfolk are commonly known as “Scoulton Crows,” from one of their best known breeding-places in the west of that county. My acquaintance with this species during its breeding- season is confined to another locality in Norfolk, where the birds have increased greatly since my first visit, owing to the strict protection afforded them by the owner. Such circumstantial details have appeared in ‘ Yarrell’ regarding the many colonies of this bird that it would be superfluous for me to repeat them; I will therefore only say that the islands and margins of freshwater meres, as well as swampy mosses, are generally selected for nesting purposes; the birds repair to these localities early in March, and the eggs are found in the greatest abundance in May; their usual complement is three. The nests that I have seen were simple masses of flags and sedge; at the time of my first visit to the locality that I have previously referred to, the young were just hatching, and took boldly to the water with, in some cases, portions of the egg-shells still adhering to their down. To convey some idea of the numbers of these Gulls that nest at Scoulton I condense the following notes by H. Stevenson, quoted in ‘ Yarrell,’ 4th ed. :—‘ Two men are employed to collect three days a week, picking up every egg they can find, and generally at the rate of from 1500 to 2000 a day; but when in full laying and left undisturbed for two clear days, between 3000 and 4000 have been taken in one day. From 10,000 to 20,000 eggs have been obtained in this manner in different seasons. In 1870 the eggs sold on the spot at 9d. to 1s. a score.” Some years ago I received several of the species alive from the owner of another celebrated colony in Lincoln- shire; two pairs of these Gulls nested and reared respectively three and two young in my aviaries at Lilford. I have met with this species during the winter months in all parts of the western Mediterranean, but never found it breeding on any of the shores of that sea. X/ j Ce a a ee ra ii a a arbor Ss Bai in — . f — eee 4 Dy » Py } ! oJ a 2 . \ " . { ~s ' a a i me i - \ Aa ’ 1) “s n of i / a ; ve j J a 1 t ‘/? s ~ c} i \ . —< m = ‘ 7 7 ‘ a ( Fi Se > a a Sheet eo et 4: = Se ee eee ee ok eee? ee ee) ee) Pipe * ee ee >) ee es » Nv ‘snpeydaoourpaut starry Sp REEL ERM NO aa A ‘TTNOS GACWAH-AOWIa NYANYSAaaLidaw “Uo, OAC) “MA “OUGI] ~ ae MEDITERRANEAN BLACK-HEADED GULL. LARUS MELANOCEPHALUS, Naitterer. Larus melanocephalus, Natterer, Isis, 1818, p. 816; Nawm. x. p. 254; Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 604; Dresser, viii. p. 365. Goéland-mélanocéphale, French; Schwarzkopf-Move, Ger- man ; Gaviota, Gavina, Spanish. There are, so far as I am aware, only two records of the occurrence of this species in England, and some doubt exists as to the first of these. Mr. H. Saunders tells us, in the 4th ed. of ‘ Yarrell,’ vol. ii. p. 604, that his attention was called by the late Mr. G. R. Gray to a specimen of this bird in the British Museum, purchased from Mr. H. Whitely, Curator of the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich, who in reply to Mr. Saunders’s enquiries informed him that it was shot in January 1866 near Barking Creek, by a waterman, and brought to him for sale with other birds. He bought the bird not knowing to what species it belonged, and took it to Mr. Gray (who purchased it) in March 1866. Mr. Saunders goes on to say that this specimen is a bird of the first year, and that although he has not the slighest doubt of the facts as above stated, there is just a chance of an accidental exchange of specimen or label between 1866 and 1871 when he examined the bird in question, so that he did not consider himself justified at the time of writing (1884) in admitting it as a British bird. With regard to the second reported occurrence of this Gull in England, I received a letter from Mr. George Smith, naturalist of Great Yarmouth, with date of December 26, 1886, from which I quote verbatim :— “I have got, shot to-day on Breydon, the first British adult specimen of the Mediterranean Black-headed Gull.” Mr. G. Smith soon after this letter sent me a coloured sketch of this specimen; this left no doubt in my mind that it had been taken from, and fairly represented, an adult specimen of the present species in winter plumage. This bird was examined “in the flesh” by Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., Mr. Thomas Southwell, and Major Feilden ; is recorded by Mr. G. Smith in the ‘ Zoologist ’ for 1887, p. 69, and was exhibited by Mr. H. Saunders at a meeting of the Zoological Society on January 18, 1887. Ihave met with this Gull locally throughout the Mediterranean, but not in any abundance to the westward of Leghorn. It was common in the bay of Naples, on the east coast of Sicily, and in the harbour of Valetta, Malta, in January, February, and March, abundant during the winter at Corfu, and, I find in my notes on the birds of Cyprus *, “We often saw, and more often heard, these beautiful Gulls passing high over the neighbourhood of Larnaca between April 16 and 21, 1875, but it was not till the 22nd, the morning after our arrival off Famagusta, that we came to close quarters with this species on the coasts of Cyprus. Here we found a flock of certainly some thousands, * This, July 1889, p. 348. all in perfect nuptial plumage, haunting the inner harbour, and with a number of Lesser Kestrels wheeling amongst them, a little flat peninsula densely overgrown with cyclamen in the foreground, and the imposing ruins of the old town in the background, forming a picture which will ever be bright amongst my many pleasant remi- niscences of Cyprus. The next day this vast assemblage of Gulls had entirely left the harbour, and we fell in with them some eight miles further up the coast in, I think, still larger numbers.’’ Mr. H. Saunders observed this species “apparently breeding” near Huelva, and says that a score frequented the Bay of St. Jean de Luz during the first fortnight of March 1882, but I have never met with it except in the Mediterranean, and may mention that several eggs sent to me as those of this Gull from the “ Marisma ” of the Guadalquivir were all really the produce of the Gull-billed Tern, Sterna anglica. The present species nests in small numbers on the western coasts of European Turkey, and on some of the coast-marshes of the Black Sea. In habits this Black- headed Gull does not appear to differ materially from Larus ridibundus, but its ery is much harsher and deeper- toned than that of the latter bird, from which it is to be easily distinguished at all seasons by the greater thick- ness of its bill and generally more robust form. In Mr. Saunders’s notice of this species, Joc. supra cit., will be found remarks on the differences of plumage in the young of the two species here in question. In the adult stage the jet-black head and coral-red bill are sufficient to distinguish the present from any other European Gull. a, GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL. LARUS ICHTHYAETUS, Pail. Larus ichthyaetus, Pall. Reise Russ. Reichs, ii. App. p. 713 (1773); Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 609; Dresser, viii. p. 369. The only specimen of this fine Gull that has been hitherto recorded to have occurred in England was shot near the mouth of the river Exe by one Mr. Pine, a boatman, about the end of May 1859, and is now pre- served in the Exeter Museum. It is an adult in full summer plumage. I find that the best-known breeding- quarters of this Gull are on the islands and low-lying shores of the Caspian Sea and the lakes of Turkestan. It is certainly very uncommon in the Mediterranean, and I never met with it on any part of that sea, but it is by no means rare on the Nile during the winter months ; it occurs on the Red Sea, at Aden, and on both sides of the Persian Gulf it is reported to be abundant. This is by far the largest of the “hooded” Gulls of the Old World, and, in common with the rest of this group, is not a rock-breeding bird. tod ‘snygeAyyyor snieq] ‘TINS GAAACVAH-AOCVId LYAAD i “UTLAE, PAGIH “AA “OUITT ge —_ ? “UYLIO GT ‘OAR “AA “OUAET uum ‘snued sniey ‘IINS NOWWOd A Paar ty a a sy em ERG PURE Pe LOI LS BN heme PR reg 2 COMMON GULL. LARUS CANUS, Linn. Larus canus, Linn. 8. N.1. p. 224 (1766) ; Naum. x. p. 301; Macg. v. p. 575; Hewitson, ii. p. 495; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 613; Dresser, viii. p. 381. Goéland cendré, French; Sturm-Méve, German; Gadina de mar, Spanish. Although this species is abundant on almost all parts of our coasts in autumn and winter, and very frequently to be met with at those seasons far inland, the word “common” can only be applied to it in a comparative sense as regards England, as modern authors seem to agree in stating that it is not now known to breed in any part of the southern kingdom. From my own experience on our south coast during the early summer months I am inclined to consider this Gull as the least frequently seen of our common Laridz, for the very obvious reason that its breeding- haunts in our Islands are confined to the north of Scotland and a few localities in Ireland. In August, however, old and young birds of this species flock to all the low-lying districts of the English coast, where they remain throughout the winter, and occasionally make long inland journeys in rough weather, in these instances almost invariably travelling to windward, as, indeed, is the case with most Gulls and many other maritime birds. This bird, according to authors better informed than myself, generally selects low grassy spots for its nest; in the only instance in which I have found it breeding the chosen spot was a rushy bog surrounding a small lonely lake at a considerable distance from the sea, the nests were composed of twigs of heather and coarse grasses, and contained two or three eggs apiece. In Northamptonshire we are annually visited by stray single birds of this species from August till March, and in winter flood-times large numbers occasionally visit our valley in company with other Gulls, and subsist during their stay on the drowned-out earthworms in our meadows. unas) 7 LZ *Snye,UOPsAe snuv7y ALA SO FO) e59) INTL TAL SLATE si *NOGNO7 ‘OlGNLS Iv OHLIT-OWOHHD © HERRING-GULL. LARUS ARGENTATUS, J. F. Gmelin. Larus argentatus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 600 (1788) ; Naum. x. p.379; Macg. v. p. 544; Hewitson, uu. p. 499; Yarr. ed, 4, ii. p. 618; Dresser, viii. p. 399. Goéland argenté, French; Silber-Move, German; Gaviota de Mar, Gaivota grande, Spanish. This is by far the most common cliff-breeding species of Gull in England, and is also extremely abundant in all suitable localities in Scotland and Treland. I do not think that any spot could be named on the coast of England where a Herring-Gull might not be seen on any given day in the year; and in - rough weather, or after the subsidence of heavy floods, it visits our river-valleys to very considerable dis- tances inland. In the district of Northamptonshire with which I am best acquainted we have an annual irregular passage of this species from N.E. to S.W. in August and the early part of September ; but at these seasons the Gulls generally keep at a great height in the air, and very seldom alight in our neighbourhood. After a long flood, however, especially in January and February, we often have many hundreds, sometimes thousands, of this and other species of Gulls, feeding ravenously upon the drowned earthworms in our water-meadows ; and during March, April, and May many Herring-Gulls pass from S.W. to N.E. in small flocks without lingering. The favourite nesting-places of this species are the ledges and small plateaux on the sea fronts of high cliffs ; but they not infrequently take possession of flat islands for breeding-purposes. The nest is usually composed of coarse grass or rushes. The eggs, three or four in number, are generally hatched by the middle of June; and in the latter fortnight of July numbers of young Gulls may be found on the water, well able to fly, but often unable to mount to the nesting-ledges, and easy of capture with a boat. A Herring-Gull is a useful bird in a kitchen-garden, and during open weather will “keep himself” upon worms, slugs, and mice, whilst almost any kitchen refuse or offal is greedily devoured at all times. In a wild state the Herring-Gull is, accordig to my experience, not so much addicted to carrion as several others of its con- geners, though by no means very particular in its diet. I recollect to have noticed two or three Lesser Black-backed Gulls greedily engaged upon a drowned and putrid cat upon a certain well-known sea-strand in Devon, whilst the Herring-Gulls, of which there were many about the spot, seemed to take no notice of this viand, and to content themselves with the ordinary produce of the shore. This certainly was not a case of fear, for I have repeatedly observed, in cases of hostile encounter between these two species, that the Herring- Gull has almost invariably proved the victor. This Gull is a hardy rover, and seems to enjoy battling against a stiff breeze at sea. In common with other Gulls it will follow ships to great distances from land; but in this respect is not, in my experience, so persistent as the Kittiwake. With plenty of room for exercise, plenty of food, and opportunities for frequent washing, these and most of our other British Gulls may be kept in captivity for many years, and will rear a brood annually. At Lilford an old male Herring-Gull paired with a female of the Dominican Gull (Larus dominicanus), and took his turn upon the eggs, from which two or three young were reared year after year for a considerable period; the produce of this pair, after going through the mottled stage, in which they could not be distinguished from purely bred Herring- Gulls of the same age, acquired a mantle only slightly darker than that of their male parent. I must here mention that the mantle of the adult Dominican Gull is very much more truly black than that of the Lesser Black-backed Gull. ‘These hybrids have never paired inter se or with any other Gulls at Lilford, or, so far as I know, shown any disposition to nest. The Herring-Gulls are very clamorous, and occasionally very savage when their nests are approached; but although I have frequently seen them stoop to within a few inches of the head of a rock-climber, I never saw one actually strike home. The Herring-Gull of the Mediterranean differs from our common race in the possession of yellow instead of flesh-coloured legs and feet, and a deep orange-red ring round the eye. ‘This bird has been specifically separated by naturalists from Larus argentatus ; but in all its habits and in cry it exactly resembles that bird, and in my humble opinion is only a climatic race. It is by far the most common of the larger Gulls in all parts of the Mediterranean that I have visited, and has been met with by Mr. H.-Saunders on the western coast of France. ug ‘snosn} snuey "TTD CHAOVA-HAOVIid Wass ad i "NOONO1 ‘OIGNLS Luv OHLIT-OWOYHHD LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. LARUS FUSCUS, Linn. Larus fuscus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 225 (1766) ; Naum. x. p. 419; Macg. v. p. 588; Hewitson, ii. p. 496; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p- 624; Dresser, viii. p. 421. Goéland « pieds jaunes, French ; Herings-Méve, German ; Gaviota de Mar, Spanish. This Gull is abundant in many parts of our Islands, especially in Scotland; but in the English Channel and along the whole line of our south coast it is very much less common than the Herring-Gull. In general habits this Gull much resembles the bird last-named, but although it nests im large numbers in certain localities on the ledges of cliffs, it is more frequently to be found breeding in colonies on flat marshes and moor-lands than that species. The Lesser Black-back is a terrible enemy to the eggs and young of all ground-breeding birds. I was informed by the game-keepers on a shooting that I rented for many years in Inverness-shire, at a considerable distance from the sea, that large numbers of these Gulls, for the most part in immature plumage, appeared regu- larly on our low-lying moors in April, and were in every way worse “vermin” than even the Grey Crows; no Highland keeper could express himself more strongly in condemnation of any flying creature. Mr. T. E. Buckley is quoted in ‘ Yarrell’ as saying that this Gull eats a great deal of grain in the spring months in Sutherland—a charge that I do not remember to have heard made against any other species of the Gull-family. For some reason that I have hitherto been unable to discover, I have never managed to keep this Gull alive at Lilford for any considerable length of time. In my experience in our district of Northamptonshire, this is the least common of the six species of Gull that habitually visit our valley, but as the young birds are not to be distinguished in the mottled plumage of their first two or three years from those of the Herring-Gull, I make this statement principally from the evidence of my ears, as there is a very marked difference between the cries of the two species. The Lesser Black-back is common in certain parts of the Mediterranean, whilst comparatively unknown in others; I consider it to be more frequent in the eastern than the western portion of that sea, although we found it breedmg in con- siderable numbers on the little islet of Alboran. It was constantly seen by our party on the south coast of Cyprus in April and May. MMT “SNUIBU SNue >] a) Gil Vid = OV ta sh Vv ae i” q “NOGNO7 ‘OIGALS LHY OHLIT-OWOHHO GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. LARUS MARINUS, Linn. Larus marinus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 225 (1766) ; Naum. x. p. 438 ; Macg. v. p. 526; Hewitson, ii. p. 501; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 631; Dresser, viii. p. 427. Goéland « manteau noir, French ; Mantel-Méve, German ; Alcatradz, Spanish ; Gavinét, Valencian. This Gull, though not so abundant on our British coasts as several other species of the Zaride, is pro- bably well known by sight to those of my readers who have visited and remained at almost any sea-side resort for any length of time. The superior size of this bird to our other Gulls is of course sufficient to identify it at a reasonable distance, and the loud angry bark to which both old and young constantly give utterance differs very perceptibly from the cry of any of the smaller species. During the autumn and winter the young of the Great Black-back, or, as it is often called, “ Saddle-back ” Gull, are to be met with all round our coasts and frequently at a considerable distance inland ; but only a few pairs are known to nest in the south of England. In Scotland, however, this Gull breeds in considerable numbers; the nests are generally placed upon the summits of isolated rocks, or “ stacks,” as they are locally called, but also by no means uncom- monly upon flat grassy islands in freshwater lakes, and occasionally in open marsh- or moor-land. We found a few nests of this Gull, from which the young had very recently flown, on some isolated rocks of the Scilly group in July. Although the young birds were strong on wing and could take perfectly good care of them- selves, the parents swooped fearlessly at us with fierce barks as we rowed about their nesting-places, and in one or two instances followed our boat closely to a considerable distance. The Great Black-back is accused of attacking sickly sheep and lambs, and human beings who may have the misfortune to be found in a drowning condition ; but I can speak from personal knowledge as to its frequent minor delinquencies in the way of destroying the young and eggs of Grouse, Peewits, and other ground-breeding birds. This Gull is by no means common, so far as my experience goes, in the Medi- terranean ; but I have met with it occasionally on the Guadalquivir within a short distance of Seville. ‘snpugny ‘QO ‘snone|s snaeq SACL IMO) §S} 1010) 9) (0) WD) *NOQNO1 ‘OIGNLS 1Hv OHLIT-OWOUHO GLAUCOUS GULL. LARUS GLAUCUS, O. Fabricius. Larus glaucus, Fabricius, Faun. Greenl. p. 100 (1780) ; Naum. x. p. 850; Macg.v. p. 557; Hewitson, uu. p. 504; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 637 ; Dresser, viii. p. 433. Goéland Bourguemestre, French ; Biirgermeister, Eis-Méve, German. This being a species that I do not remember ever to have seen alive in a wild state, I merely quote from Mr. Howard Saunders’s ‘Manual’ with regard to it— that it is common and resident in Iceland, and is found during summer throughout the entire circumpolar regions of the Old and New World. In severe winters it is to be met with occasionally in large numbers about our coasts; but is uncommon to the south of Norfolk, and rare in Ireland. In common with all the larger Gulls it is omnivorous, and a tyrant as regards other and less powerful sea- birds. From its bullying and masterful disposition it has acquired the name of “ Burgomaster” from those who “occupy their business on the great waters” of the northern seas. ‘The Glaucous Gull nests, according 4a to circumstance, upon the ledges of cliffs or on the shore ; the eggs are laid in June. Mr. Saunders informs us that the migrations of this species extend to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, but it is certainly a very scarce visitor to the former. The only two specimens of this Gull in my own pos- session were obtained off Great Yarmouth in the winter season. “smttdqny “OQ ‘snone|s snueqz ‘dnjouut “TT SQOONVWID NOGNO7 'OIQNLS J8v OHLIT-OWOHHO —_ ICELAND GULL. LARUS LEUCOPTERUS, Faber. Larus leucopterus, Faber, Prodr. Isl. Orn. p. 91 (1822) ; Naum. x. p. 367 ; Macg.v. p.566 ; Hewitson, iu. p. 498 ; Yarr. ed. 4, 111. p. 642; Dresser, viii. p. 439. Goéland leucoptére, French ; Polar-Move, German. This Gull is an irregular winter visitor to the coasts of the British Islands; but, so far as I am able to ascertain from the standard authorities, has not hitherto been found breeding in any part of Europe. It winters im Iceland; but, according to Mr. H. Saunders, it appears to be confined during the breeding-season to Greenland and the Arctic regions of America. As I have never met with this species alive, I will merely add that it closely resembles the Glaucous Gull in its dif- ferent stages of plumage, but is considerably smaller and less robust in “ make,” with proportionately longer wings than that bird. uegng ‘sniaydoonsy, snie Ws ‘aanjomue ‘TINO ANWIadI ‘uyey ‘s407p AA "OUTT] Litho. W. Greve, Berlin. KITTIWAKE. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.). KITTIWAKE. RISSA TRIDACTYLA (Linn.). Larus tridactylus, Linn. 8S. N. i. p. 224 (1766); Naum. x. p. 822; Hewitson, il. p. 493. Rissa tridactyla, Macg. v. p. 515; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 650; Dresser, viil. p. 447. Mouette tridactyle, French; Dreizehige Move, German ; Gaviota, Spanish. This very graceful little Gull is one of the most common of its family upon the coasts of the British Islands throughout the year, but it breeds exclusively on rocks, and on our low-lying shores is principally known as an autumnal or winter visitor. A large number frequent the coast of Devon between Torbay and Plymouth during July and August, but I could never hear of more than one nest in that district ; this I discovered on a rock off Berry Head in June 1876 ; it contained three young birds nearly ready to fly. I was constantly yachting about this part of the coast in the latter part of July and beginning of August in the years 1880, 1881, 1882, and 1883, and none of the local fishermen and boatmen would believe that I was not mistaken about this isolated nest, and maintained that it must have been a Herring-Gull’s; but as we could almost reach the nest from our boat with a boat-hook, and plainly see the young birds, as their parents hovered around us with their constant and unmistakable cry of “ Kittiweek,” and as a considerable number of Herring- Gulls were about their nests on the mainland almost within shot-range, I have every reason to be quite certain on this matter. I quite admit that this was an exceptional occurrence, all the more remarkable from the facts that many other Kittiwakes were haunting the locality, without, so far as we could discover, having nested anywhere between Berry Head and Plymouth Sound, and that this species, as a rule, nests in numerous colonies. I am not aware that the Kittiwake now nests regularly on any part of our coasts between Plymouth and the mouth of the Thames, but we found some nesting-stations on the south coast of Cornwall and a very well-stocked one in Scilly in 1852. I never, how- ever, saw the Kittiwake in any numbers at all to compare with those that were daily to be noticed in - Clew Bay, off the coast of Mayo, in the summer of 1854, when the rocks, the sea, and the air were posi- tively alive with them from dawn till dusk. I am only referrmg to my personal experience, and am well aware that vast numbers of this species are to be found during the breeding-season on almost all parts of our Islands that are suited to their habits. ‘The Kittiwake makes a nest of seaweeds on the ledges of cliffs, and lays three egos, of a dull greenish drab-colour spotted with brown and grey. Durmg the winter months a few of this species often come to a considerable distance inland, generally in company with other Gulls. In my expe- rience this Gull is by no means a common visitor to the Mediterranean ; but I met with it in winter in consider- able numbers on the Atlantic coasts of Spain, and have often noticed it following our ship as she ploughed across the Bay of Biscay. I may mention, as a some- what curious fact in connection with this bird, that a Kittiwake, picked up in a miserably emaciated state near Lilford, in November 1890, rapidly recovered flesh and condition upon a diet of earthworms, but on the failure of a supply of these delicacies, owing to intense frost, entirely refused food of any kind, and actually died of starvation with an abundance of fish within reach. For details as to the hideous barbarities practised upon this pretty and harmless bird for the sake of its feathers in the interests of Fashion, I beg to refer my readers to Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds,’ 4th ed. vol. ii. p. 653, in the hope that any ladies who may honour me by reading this article may study the passage to which I refer, and do their utmost to check this sort of atrocity, by no means, alas! confined to our own country or to the Kittiwakes. if IVORY GULL PAGOPHILA EBURNEA (Phipps). Larus eburneus, Phipps, Voy. towards N. Pole, p. 187 (1774) ; Naum. x. p. 341. Cetosparactes eburneus, Macg. v. p. 508. Pagophila eburnea, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 656; Dresser, vii. p. 349. Mouette blanche, French; Schnee-Méve, Elfenbein- Move, German. This species is a scarce and irregular visitor to our shores. It breeds in considerable numbers on certain parts of the precipitous coasts of Spitzbergen, but its eggs are exceedingly scarce articles in collections. For a very interesting account of the habits of this bird I refer my readers to Prof. A. Newton’s “ Notes on the Birds of Spitsbergen ” (Ibis, 1865). aye 9949 MOUNT (sddyy) eaumngs eprydose PAD rel ONT d Ji ‘(uuT) SOOCYIIEJI STI}so7T VOUS LYAAD ‘UTI ‘01H “MM “OUIT] GREAT SKUA. LESTRIS CATARRHACTES (Linn). Larus catarractes, Linn. S. N. 1. p. 226 (1766). Lestris cataractes, Naum. x. p. 470. Lestris catarractes, Macg. v. p. 479; Hewitson, ii. p. 505. Stercorarius catarrhactes, Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 662; Dresser, vill. p. 457. Skua, Bonzie, French; Grosse Raub-Méve, German ; Cagalo (applied to all the Skuas), Spanish. TI cannot remember having identified a Great Skua on wing except on one occasion, shortly after rounding Cape Finisterre on our passage in my yacht from Santander to Vigo in December 1878, when a solitary individual of this species sailed past our vessel within gunshot range. I am therefore unable to dilate upon the habits of the bird m a wild state. The only breed- ing-places of these fine birds in the British Islands are in the Shetlands, on the islands of Unst and Foula, where, owing to the most praiseworthy protection afforded to them by the landowners, they still hold their ground in some numbers in spite of the constant raids of collectors, who offer such high prices for the eggs that 59 one can hardly find fault with the island-natives for aiding them in their wanton depredations. This species also breeds in Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, and wanders southwards in the autumn and winter, but, although occasionally met with on our eastern coasts, and as far south as the Straits of Gibraltar at those seasons, the Great Skua may be fairly regarded as rare in Europe, away from its summer haunts. The “ Bonxie,” as this bird is called by the Shetlanders, breeds on the ground on high moor-lands ; the eggs are two in number ; and Mr. H. Saunders confirms, from personal experience, the many stories that are related with regard to the boldness of the parent-birds in defence of their young. The two birds represented in the accompanying Plate were most kindly sent to me as a present from the proprietor of the island of Foula, and were taken from the nest in the summer of 1891. They arrived at Lilford at the end of August in charge of a native of Foula, who had taken and reared them. This man assured me that the “ Bonxies” on Foula live to a great extent by the capture of Kittiwakes and other sea-birds during the breeding-season, and that they can easily master all the other species that inhabit the island. The day after their arrival at Lilford the two young birds, though well fed, managed to drag an incautious American Teal through the dividing wires of their respective com- partments, and, when visited in the merning, were found upon the half-devoured carcase of their victim, which was held down by the feet of the slayers, and torn to pieces after the manner of an Hagle in like circumstance. These birds are still in perfect health (August 1893), and, having been pinioned, are, at this time of writing, livmg on peaceable terms with eight young Great Bustards recently received from Spain. These Skuas are virtually omnivorous, and devour bread or buns with almost the same avidity as offal, small birds, rats, mice, frogs, or fishes; they are perfectly tame and fearless, and have held their own with two young Limmergeyers and a Giant Heron (Ardea goliath) that formerly shared their yard with them. The Heron, on being approached by human visitors, almost invariably vomited his last meal, which was incontinently devoured by the Shet- landers. ‘The only notes that these birds utter are a plaintive wail, and a feeble sort of twittering cry. SEE SS a AR OE TWIST-TAILED SKUA. LESTRIS POMARINUS, Temm. Lestris pomarinus, Temm. Man. d’Orn. p.514 (1815) ; Macg. v. p. 487. Lestris pomarina, Naum. x. p. 487. Stercorarius pomatorhinus, Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 668; Dresser, viii. p. 463. " Labbe Pomarin, French; Mittlere Raubmove, German. This is a species that I have only seen alive in our aviary at Lilford, and I am therefore unable to give any details as to its natural habits from personal observation. It is said to have been found breeding in the arctic regions of Asia and America; but in Europe it is only known as an irregular autumnal visitor. On our British coasts its appearance is extremely uncertain; but it occasionally appears in vast numbers, generally on our eastern sea-board, to which district, however, its visits are by no means exclusively confined, and there are many recorded instances of its occurrence inland. The examples from which my Plates were taken were killed from a fishing-smack off Great Yarmouth in the first week of November 1890, and sent up to London “in the flesh’? by Mr. George Smith, of the first-named port. ulfaeg ‘eAatn “M "OUNT usta | YOXAS ‘snulmeurod Gaalvl S11jSa7q LSIM.L nijaeg Our} UbtAd, | YNAS ‘snuliewiod siijs3q qa iW LSIM.L Ld uosung “IUOSp1eYOII Si14soT ‘WOAS S NosddvHola ‘UlpIeg ‘eAeIH “M ‘OTIIT L a ~~ RICHARDSON’S SKUA. LESTRIS RICHARDSONI, Swainson. Lestris richardsoni, Swainson, Faun. Bor.-Am. p. 433 (1831) ; Macy. v. p. 492; Hewitson, ii. p. 509. Lestris parasitica, Nawm. x. p. 506. Stercorarius crepidatns, Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p.674; Dresser, viii. p: 471. Labbe parasite, French ; Schmarotzer-Raubmove, German ; Cagalo, Spanish. As I have no personal acquaintance with this species in the British Islands, my friend Colonel Irby has been good enough to write the following remarks from his own experience for my benefit and that of my readers :— “ About thirty or forty pairs of Richardson’s Skua breed on one of the Inner Hebrides, where they arrive during the end of May and are not seen after the 20th of August. «Their nesting district is limited to a flat area of wettish ground covered with small tussocks of grass, moss, and stunted heather, but the nests, or rather spots upon which the eggs are laid, are dry. “ We found the first egg on the 2nd of June. “They have a well-known habit of stooping close to the head of anyone intruding near their nests, always coming up from behind the person they mob. The sound made by their swoop resembles the noise made by the passing of a small shot ; and not knowing the bird is coming up from behind, one is quite startled at their first stoop. “These Skuas bully all Gulls which pass near their breeding-places, but im turn are themselves hustled by any Peewits near whose young they happen to pass, and it is a quaint sight to see a Skua on the ground being buffeted by a pair of Peewits. “The light and dark forms of this Skua were about equal in number, perhaps the former were a little more numerous, but both light and dark birds interpair ; in the only instance in which I could be certain, the dark bird was the female. “T am happy to say these birds are strictly preserved in the locality to which I refer.” My own acquaintance with Richardson’s Skua is confined to the open sea off the coasts of Spain and Italy. In the Gulf of Gaeta, in the month of March 1875, I noticed some ten or more of these birds in varying plumage busily engaged in bullying and chasing about a flock of Black-headed Gulls. a4 , an. > eo wf & le oe me @ » og al 7 ; - i} ‘ i 4 | = : . ay i im * ‘ a i < 1! ® sr } > = 7 > pe 7 A.» FF " . fs . y <- ite P ¢ en ae 1 oie oe cts! Rye Natl) 7 baer bi Bey Be: a A arg i e My ‘f (um) snoiyisered staysa7q7 WOAS SNOHANE AO CATIWL-ONOT “UDO “OATH “A OUT “lo LONG-TAILED or BUFFON’S SKUA. LESTRIS PARASITICUS (Linn.). Larus parasiticus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 226 (1766). Lestris crepidata, Naum. x. p. 534. Lestris parasitica, Macg. v. p. 503. Lestris buffonii, Hewitson, ii. p. 508. Stercorarius parasiticus, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 680; Dresser, vil. p. 481. Labbe a longe queue, French; Schmarotzer-Raubmive, German. This species is an irregular, and not a very common, autumnal visitor to our shores, and occasionally strag- gles to considerable distances mland. As I have no personal acquaintance with this Skua in life, I quote briefly from the most recent English authorities with regard to its haunts and habits. The breeding-range of Buffon’s Skua is said to be confined to the arctic regions of both hemispheres. Mr. H. Saunders informs us that a few pairs nest on the Dovrefjeld in 623° N. lat., and Wolley and Wheelwright found it breeding in considerable numbers far inland on the fells of Swedish Lapland. Seebohm met with it on the tundras of Siberia, but remarks that he did not observe it on migration in the valley of the Petchora. The last- named author states that it breeds in colonies, but that the nests are scattered over a considerable area. Von Middendorff, who obtained the first authenticated eges of this species, says that this Skua arrives on its breeding-grounds on the Taimur Peninsula on the 17th of June, that eggs were laid on the 4th of July, and that young in down appeared on the 27th. On the 16th of September they were still at their breeding- grounds, and one was seen on the 38rd of October. The nest is placed in the grass or moss in the open tundra ; the number of eggs is invariably two, and in colour they precisely resemble those of Richardson’s Skua. The food of the present species consists of fish, crustaceans, and molluscs, in addition to the insects, fruit, lemmings, or small birds which form its chief diet during the breeding-season. ‘The parents defend their young with great bravery, and at sea follow and bully the flocks of Kittiwakes after the fashion of the other members of the Skua-family. This bird has been captured in the Straits of Gibraltar, and exceptionally straggles into the western basin of the Mediterranean. 9 S) RAZORBILL. Litho. W. Greye, Berlin. Alea torda, Linz. RAZORBILL, ALCA TORDA, Linn. Alca torda, Linn. S. N. i. p. 210 (1766) ; Naum. xii. p. 606; Hewitson, ii. p. 468; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 55; Dresser, Vill. p. 557. Utamania torda, Macg. v. p. 346. Pingouin macroptére, French; Tord-Alk, German; Pin- guino, Gallareta de mar, Spanish. This is a common cliff-breeding species on our coasts, and to be found at all seasons of the year in our British seas. The Razorbill feeds entirely by diving, at which it is very expert; in general habits it much resembles the Common Guillemot and Puffin, frequenting the same cliffs for breeding-purposes as those species, though in considerably smaller numbers. The egg of the Razor- bill is less pointed or pear-shaped than that of the Guillemot, and is not subject to so many variations in colour and markings as the produce of that bird, the usual type being of a dingy-white ground-colour, with dark brown blotches and streaks. The young birds are carried down to the sea by their parents before they can fly, and diligently instructed in the art of diving. As soon as they are well able to shift for themselves the majority of Razorbills quit the immediate neighbourhood of their breeding-places, and may be found in small parties scattered all over our seas wherever small fishes are to be found. I am acquainted with several instances of the occurrence of this bird far inland, but these erratic appearances are not so frequently recorded of the Razorbill as of many other oceanic species. Litho. W. Greve, Berlin. GREAT AUK. Alcea impennis, Linn. GREAT AUK. ALCA IMPENNIS, Linn. Alca impennis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 210 (1766); Naum. xii. p. 630; Macg. v. p. 359; Hewitson, ii. p. 469; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 61; Dresser, vill. p. 563. Grand Pingouin, French; Grosser Alk, German. I need hardly say that I never had any personal acquaintance with this extinct and much-lamented fowl in life, as there is no authentic record of its occurrence “‘in the flesh” since 1844. To those interested in ornithology the history of the Great Auk is probably well known from the published researches of Professor Alfred Newton, but I may mention that a valuable summary of references on the subject is to be found in the 4th edition of Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds,’ vol. iv. p. 62, and as all the information in my possession is derived from the works there enumerated, I will not attempt to set it forth. I may, however, briefly quote that it is very doubtful if this bird was ever met with to the north of the Arctic circle, that its principal haunts were certain islands in the neighbourhood of Newfoundland, others near the east coast of Greenland, and some skerries off the south-west of Iceland, whence the last- recorded specimens were obtained in the year above mentioned. I am the fortunate possessor of a fine stuffed specimen of this species, which, from the date of a ship’s bill of lading written in Danish and Icelandic, found inside the skin by the late H. Ward, of Vere Street, to whom it was sent to be mounted, was pro- bably obtained on the coast of Iceland about the year 1833; this specimen formerly belonged to my brother- in-law, Mr. Arthur Crichton, and was purchased by me after his death, with an egg bought by him from the collection of the College of Surgeons. Four other eggs of this species, now at Cambridge, have been owned by me, and my readers will perhaps be amused at reading that one of the many visitors to our aviaries at Lilford told my falconer, who was acting as his guide, that he had read in a newspaper that I had given a very stiff price for one of these eggs, and added an earnest expression of hope that I had “hatched it success- fully !” ‘(Uury) B{tO1) Bla, LOWS TIIIND NOWWOD *‘ulffeg ‘sAeI5 "MM ‘OuIT COMMON GUILLEMOT. URIA TROILE (Linn.). Colymbus troile, Linn. S. N. i. p. 220 (1766). Uria troile, Macg. v. p. 318; Hewitson, ii. p.455; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 69. Uria lomvia, Naum. xii. p. 508. Uria hringvia, Naum. xii. p. 524. Uria lacrymans, Macg. v. p. 326. Alea troile, Dresser, viii. p. 567. Guillemot troile, French; Lumme, German. This bird is exceedingly common on and about the coasts of the United Kingdom at all seasons, and breeds in vast numbers on the suitable ledges of pretty nearly all our considerable ranges of sea-cliffs ; but to meet the requirements of the Guillemot these ledges must be bare and free from vegetation of any kind. I believe that after the end of Angust this bird deserts its breeding places and lives entirely “at sea.” Our bird is known in different parts of the country by a variety of names, of which, perhaps, “ Willock,” ‘“ Willet,” ‘ Marrock,” “Scoot,” and “ Murre” are the most generally known ; but to the bird-butchers who pursue sea-birds in boats in holiday time for sport! or for the sake of selling them to the feather-dealers, the Guillemot and Razor- bill are lumped together as “ Divers.” The principal food of this species consists of small fishes, captured under water; but I find it stated that it also feeds upon crustaceans and marine insects. The Guillemot lays a single egg of huge size in comparison to the bulk of the bird; these eggs vary in colour to an almost unparallelled extent, but are always of an even pear-shape. On many parts of the coast they are regularly gathered by natives, who let themselves down from above by ropes, and the eggs thus collected are sold, not only for culinary purposes, but, as Mr. H. Saunders informs us, for clarifying wine and for the pre- paration of patent leather. The Guillemot sits upright on her egg, and the gentleman from whom I have just quoted states at p. 71 of vol. iv. of Yarrell, 4th edition, that he has often seen the eggs fall in showers from the ledges of Lundy Island on the disturbance of the birds by the firing of a gun for the delectation of tourists and “ trippers.” Against the organized and regulated gathering of the eggs of sea-birds for open sale there is little to be said ; the proprietors, lessees, and egg-gatherers may, I think, be safely trusted not to extermimate any “fowl’’ whose produce may be profitable; but I cannot too strongly condemn the practice (only too common, I fear) of making up parties for sea-bird shooting from boats in August when many of the victims are unable to fly, and cannot save their lives by prolonged diving. It is possible that some of the published accounts of the doings of these gunners are exaggerated; I most devoutly hope so, for I have read apparently authentic reports of Gulls of various species left to a miserable death, with one or both wings cut or torn from their bodies, and boat-loads of Guillemots, Razorbills, and Puffins landed after some hours’ shooting, with as many of their number alive as dead. ‘augng “gq “tyduuenIg eI1f) ‘abounjg wuuny ‘TOWATTIND S HOINNAaa S UIfOg “MARL “MAM ‘OUDIT BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT. URIA BRUENNICHTI, E. Sabine. Uria briinnichii, Sabine, Trans. Linn. Soe. xii. p. 538 (1818) ; Macg. v. p. 314; Hewitson, i. p. 460; Dresser, viii. p. 575. Uria bruennichi, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 76. Uria arra, Naum. xii. p. 535. Briinnich’s Lumme, German. Admitting this bird as specifically distinct from the Common Guillemot, Mr. H. Saunders states (Yarrell, Ath ed. vol. iv. p. 77) that it has been included in the British list upon somewhat slight evidence, and goes on to remark upon the many recorded instances of its occurrence in the United Kingdom. I think that any one who reads these remarks with care can only agree with the writer in his conclusion as above cited. As my only knowledge of this form is derived from pre- served specimens, I do not pretend to pronounce positively as to its specific value, but am inclined to con- sider it as merely a large form of Common Guillemot ; perhaps I should express my meaning more correctly by saying that I look upon our Common Guillemot as a local race of the species of which I am treating Briinnich’s Guillemot is a northern bird, and breeds in countless thousands in Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Novaya Zemlya, wintering on the north coast and islands of Siberia. In Iceland it is said to be very local. This Guillemot visits the coasts of Norway in winter only: one is said to have been obtamed near Flensborg, and two others on the coast of Denmark; the most southerly occurrence of which I can find any record is that of a specimen taken near Havre. During the memorable “rush” of Little Auks to our eastern coasts in the winter of 1894-1895, several of Briinnich’s Guillemot were met with, and, through the courtesy of their respective possessors, I had the opportunity of examining four of them. The first of these I heard of from Doctor Bendelack Hewetson, as having been obtained at Scar- borough on the 7th of December, 1894. This bird was shot near the North Pier, and the shooter not caring to retrieve it, the bird was seized upon by a boy and taken by him whilst still warm to Mr. W. J. Clarke, of 44 Huntriss Row, Scarborough, who most obligingly sent it to me stuffed, for examination, with the following particulars :—Male by dissection. Total length 18 in., expanse of wings 243 in., wing from carpal joint to tip slightly over 8 in. ‘This specimen was exhibited by Mr. J. EH. Harting at a meeting of the Linnean Society in January 1895. The next in chronological order was obtained near Guyhirn, Cambs., about January 12th, 1895, and sent into Bury St. Edmunds on 16th, where it was seen in flesh by the wife of my informant, the Rev. Julian Tuck, of Tostock Rectory, who purchased the bird, and was good enough to forward it stuffed to BRUNNICH'’S GUILLEMOT. Winter Plumage. Uria bruennichi, £. Sabine. Litho. W. Greve, Berlin. me. Some doubt having been raised as to the identity of this specimen, I sent it, with Mr. Tuck’s permission, to Professor Newton, who, in reply, assured me that there could be no doubt about its being a genuine Briinnich’s Guillemot. The third on my list was picked up by Mr. Oxley Grabham, of Croxton Villa, Grosvenor Road, Scarborough, who informed me that he found it in Filey Bay, on January 30th, 1895, “ being attracted by its size, its light-coloured legs, and the very pro- nounced white line at the base of the upper mandible.” My correspondent goes on to say: “It was the largest Guillemot I ever saw, measuring 192? in. in length, from carpal joint to end of longest primary 8+ in., total expanse of wings 283 in. The tarsi and toes were light yellowish olive, webs dirty brown. In the flesh the white on the throat ran up into a point, as in Mr. Clarke’s bird, and not in a rounded arch as in the Common Guillemot. It was a male by dissection.” The fourth was obtained by Mr. Grabham at Scarborough on January 31st, 1895, and proves to be a female by dissection. The measurements given by Mr. Grabham were: total length 182 in., wing 72 in., total expanse 26 in. Both of these latter birds were very courteously sent to me for examination by Mr. Grabham. With regard to the accompanying Plates, that of the adult in summer plumage with young was taken from specimens obtained by Professor Newton off the coast of Spits- bergen, and kindly lent to me for this work; the other is from the Yorkshire specimens above mentioned. #9 ee) 2 adie us ae 4 aa fi / ‘CumTy) B{{AIB BI ‘LOWATIINGS AOYTa ‘ulptog, ‘AAeTH “M ‘OUIT BLACK GUILLEMOT. URIA GRYLLE (Linn.). Colymbus grylle, Linn. S. N. i. p. 220 (1766). Cepphus grylle, Naum. xii. p. 461. Uria grylle, Macg. v. p. 331; Hewitson, ii. p. 462; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 81; Dresser, viii. p. 581. Guillemot grylle, French; Gryll-Lumme, German. My personal acquaintance with this species is very limited, as I have only once been at any of its breeding- places; this was on the coast of Mayo in 1854, I found Black Guillemots in small numbers at sea, within a short distance of the cliffs in which they were breed- ing. I never saw the eggs of this species 7m situ, but my Westport boatmen obtained a few from under the great stones within a short scramble from the water. The birds were exceedingly tame, not even attempting to dive till we were almost within oar’s length of them, I have noticed a few during the winter months in Dublin Bay, and saw one pair off the north coast of the Isle of Man in the month of May; and here, oh, reader! you have all that I can tell you from my own experience concerning this bird, which is said to be a strictly northern species, and certainly is rare on any part of the English shores, though very abundant on the west and north coasts of Scotland and Ireland. LITTLE AUK. MERGULUS ALLE (Linn.). Alca alle, Zinn. 8S. N. i. p. 211 (1766). Mergulus alle, Naum. xi. p. 55; Macg. v. p. 341; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 85; Dresser, viil. p. 591. Arctica alle, Hewitson, i. p. 465. Guillemot nain, French; Kleine Lumme, German. Here is the presentment of a bird entirely unknown to me in life, but very fully treated of by all our standard authorities; I will therefore only quote from them to the extent of saying that its breeding-haunts are confined to rocks within the Arctic circle, that it wanders, occasionally in large numbers, during the winter months to British seas, and has frequently been picked up alive and dead in various parts of our Islands at considerable distances from salt-water. I may men- tion, however, that in my own county of Northampton some four or five storm-driven Puffins have been recorded in local journals as Little Auks, three of these birds having been sent to me for examination, at my request, after the publication of the records to which I refer. I am only acquainted with one occurrence of the subject of this article in our county. tS Litho. W. Greve, Berlin, LITTLE AUK. Mergulus alle (Zinn.). Vi PUFFIN. FRATERCULA ARCTICA (Linn.). Alca arctica, Linn. S. N. i. p. 211 (1766). Lunda arctica, Nawm. xii. p. 577. Mormon arcticus, Macg. v. p. 365. Fratercula arctica, Hewitson, ii. p. 466; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 90; Dresser, viii. p. 599. Macareux, French; arktische Lund, German; Frailecillo (Graells), Spanish; Frare, Sit (Vayreda), Catalan. The Puffin breeds in enormous numbers on many parts of the rocky coasts of the three kingdoms, laying its solitary egg in burrows either made by itself or by rabbits at the summit or in the face of sea-cliffs. These birds come to their breeding-places in March and April, but do not lay before May, and as soon as the young are fully fledged and able to provide for themselves the whole colonies leave their summer-quarters, and it is exceptional to meet with these birds in any number on or even near the English coasts during the winter months. Endless instances of the occurrence of the Puffin far inland are on record: one of the most remark- able, in my experience, being that of an adult male of this species which flew through an open window of an upper room in Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, on May 16th, 1887, and is now stuffed in my possession. The beak of the Puffin undergoes a curious change, on which subject I cannot do better than quote the concise account given by Mr. Seebohm, in his ‘ History of British Birds,’ as follows :—‘‘ After the autumnal moult the sheath of the basal half of the bill is cast, as are also the warty red skin round the gape and the appendages above and below the eye.” Litho, W. Greve, Berlin, PUFFIN. Fratacula artica (Linn) // UjTOg ‘ACTH “AA 'OUNTT ~ <0 nay] ‘stjeoeys snquiAjoo ‘AAAIG NYHAHHLYON LVYHaAD GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. COLYMBUS GLACIALIS, Linn. Colymbus glacialis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 221 (1766) ; Macg. v. p- 283; Hewitson, 1. p. 449; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 96; Dresser, viii. p. 609. Eudytes glacialis, Nawm. xii. p. 397. Plongeon-imbrin, French; LKis-Seetaucher, German ; Patoula, Galician. Almost every individual of the three British species of the genus Colymébus that is killed at any distance from the sea, and recorded in the local press, is honoured with the name of ‘Great Northern Diver;” but to those of my readers who have any acquaintance with British ornithology it is almost needless to state that the appearance of the present species on inland waters in England is exceptional, and that the majority of the records to which I allude relate in fact to the Red- throated Diver. Off our coasts, however, the Great Northern Diver is by no means uncommon during autumn, winter, and early spring. In the very cold snowy weather of the early part of April 1876 we found a great many of these birds frequenting the bay ee ee of Weymouth, most of them in immature plumage, but we could make out a few adults. Both young and old set all our efforts to obtain any of them at defiance —in fact, they never allowed our boats, either under sail or when pulled by four good rowers, to approach within reasonable shooting distance. In the month of May of the year above mentioned we found an adult bird of this species frequenting the harbour of Santander: he afforded us many most exciting chases ; but I am glad to say that for all I know to the contrary he may still be alive and flourishing ; at all events the last that we saw of him was on the day of our departure from Santander for Bordeaux in the second week of June, when he crossed our bows in a northerly direction just as we cleared the narrow entrance of the harbour. In November and December 1878 I found several of this species in the same locality, and, with the aid of a steam-launch, procured two or three specimens without much difficulty, and might have shot more; but the real sport in Diver-hunting consists in the pursuit, and not in the actual capture, and marvellous as are the rapidity and length of the dives of this fine bird, he is unfairly handicapped in smooth waters by the use of steam-power. The Great Northern Diver will ride out very heavy weather on the open sea without resorting to the quiet waters of harbours and estuaries ; there is indeed no special reason why this bird should frequent shallow waters except when in pursuit of some shoal of favourite fishes, for he can, and constantly does, take his prey at a depth of forty or fifty fathoms. According to the 4th edition of Yarrell, there is no absolute proof of the breeding of this Diver in any part of our islands, though there can be but little doubt of its having done so in Sutherland and the Shetlands. In Iceland this bird is said to be found in the breeding-season upon almost every lake. With regard to its nesting-habits, I must refer my readers to our standard authorities. In stormy weather this Diver utters a melancholy resonant moan ; but this cry I have only once heard. I cannot positively assert that I ever saw the Great Northern Diver in any part of the Mediterranean, although it does occasionally appear in the eastern portions of that sea during the winter months. qq Re oe an ae ee Dee b - ‘ ‘ : oan . - WHITE-BILLED GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. COLYMBUS ADAMSI, G. R. Gray. Colymbus adamsi, G. R. Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 167; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 99, & Pref. to vol: m2 p., we@allert, Ibis, 1894, p. 269; Dresser, Suppl. p. 413. Though a specimen of a large Diver with a white bill killed at Pakefield on the Suffolk coast was suspected to belong to the then (1859) recently described Colymbus adamsi, both the identification of the specimen and the validity of the species have been questioned until a recent date. Professor Collett’s paper on C. adamsi has now set the main point at rest, for he has not only proved the species to be distinct from C. glaciahs, but has also shown, by the examination of a number of specimens, that the White-billed Great Northern Diver is not uncommon on the coast of Norway between October and December. It probably occurs over a considerable area in the Arctic Regions, whence moving southwards in autumn it is found both in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A second British-killed specimen is preserved in the Museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which, according to Hancock, was shot on the coast of Northumberland. (0. 8.] Litho. W. Greve, Bex WHITE-BILLED GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. Colymbus adamsi, @. &. @ray. . S a BLACK-THROATED DIVER. COLYMBUS ARCTICUS, Linn. Colymbus arcticus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 221; Macg. v. p. 294; Hewits. 11. p. 451; Dresser, viii. p. 615; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 105. Eudytes arcticus, Naum. xii. p. 418. Plongeon a gorge noire, French; Polartaucher, German. The Black-throated Diver is a not unfrequent visitor to our coasts in winter, but it breeds regularly in several of the lochs of the northern counties of Scotland and in many of the islands of the Outer Hebrides and in the Orkneys. Lord Jilford includes it m his ‘ Birds of Northamptonshire,’ an immature bird having been killed on Naseby Reservoir on 25th October, 1881. Two others are mentioned as having been obtained near the borders of the county. [O. S.] ‘uw ‘snonoie snqursjoy ‘AGAIG GHALWOUHL— AOWT1E ruyTAog, ‘OA0a4) “Ay “OUT « ‘uuy ‘sijeuorsyuejdes snquisjop ‘ARGAIG CGHLYOAHL-day L fd i “UNTO BACT “M “OUITT RED-THROATED DIVER. COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, Linn. Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 220 (1766) ; Macg. v. p. 391 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 453; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 112; Dresser, viii. p. 621. Eudytes septentrionalis, Naum. xii. p. 434. ‘Plongeon cat-marin, French; Rothkehliger Taucher, German ; Cadellot (Valencia), Agulla (Cataluiia). This bird is well known on all parts of the coasts of the three kingdoms, and is not infrequently met with during the winter and early spring months at a con- siderable distance from salt water; but its breeding- haunts in our country are confined to Scotland and its adjacent islands, and a few localities in the north of Ireland. ‘The red-throat plumage is assumed in May, and occasionally carried till late in the succeeding autumn, but the great majority of the birds of this species met with on our coasts and estuaries during the months of late autumn and winter are white-throated, and commonly known to fishermen as Sprat-Loons, or Speckled Divers; in this state of plumage I am very well acquainted with this Diver, and have met with it on many parts of the south coast of England, and in Ireland at all seasons from November to May; but I only once shot a specimen with fully developed red throat, this was in Plymouth Sound about the middle of May 1855; this individual was, as far as I could make out, the only one of perhaps some 30 or 40 then frequenting the Sound that had any discernible dark colouring on the throat. ; This Diver lays two long olive-brown eggs spotted with darker brown, these are placed close to the water, on the margins of secluded pools and lochs, the bird seldom making any nest; but on this matter I quote from authority, as I have never met with the bird in its breeding-localities. The diving-powers of this group of birds are marvellous, but not so great in this species as in the larger Great Northern Diver. I have spent many hours, I might say days, in pursuit of both species in England, Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland ; the present bird, when feeding, will occasionally permit of a close approach under sail, but if “light” and hungry generally rises and flies to a considerable distance when alarmed, sometimes, however, taking a long precau- tionary dive before domg so. On the other hand, if the bird has been observed to dive on its own account four or five times, it may be reckoned that it is well on towards what whalers call “ full ship,” and will not rise at all, in this case its capture, if desired, is merely a matter, im smooth water, of time and good steer- ing, for the length of the dives gradually diminishes till the wearied bird may be almost taken with the hand. These birds have an objection to fly over the land, and, if hemmed up in a narrow tidal creek, will generally rise and pass within easy shot of the boat of the pursuer ; needless to say that the flesh cf the Divers is worthless, and that they are only worth powder and shot for the sake of their skins and the chancy nature of the sport that they afford. I may add that I have often been requested by fishermen to shoot these birds on account of their destruction of sprats and other desirable small fry. The Red-throated Diver is a swift and powerful flyer, and breeding throughout the northern regions of the world, migrates in autumn as far south as Egypt. I found it in some numbers upon the Lake of Geneva during the winter, and have met with it abundantly on the north coast of Spain, and sparsely in the Mediter- ranean and Adriatic at that season of the year. The only note that I have ever heard from this species is a harsh guttural bark. | (uurq) snzeysiuo Sdeoipod g aand9 CalsSdyua lvyado Si S "NOGNO1 ‘OIONIS LYY OHLIT-OWONHOD GREAT CRESTED GREBE. PODICEPS CRISTATUS (Linn.). Colymbus cristatus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 222 (1766) ; Naum. ix. p. 686. Podiceps cristatus, Macg. v. p. 250; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 117; Dresser, viii. p. 629. Grébe huppé, French; Grosser Lappentaucher, German ; Somormujo, Zambullidor, Spanish. Notwithstanding the persecution to which this remark- ably beautiful species was formerly, and still is to a certain extent, subjected, to satisfy the fancy of ladies for its breast-feathers for their personal adornment, I am glad to be able to state, from authentic private information, that of late years it has appeared and breeds in several localities in England where it was previously almost unknown, and that in more than one of these localities it is jealously protected by the pro- prietors. My own first personal acquaintance with this Grebe was formed on our Northamptonsbire river, the Nene, in my early shooting-days, when nothing that flew or dived was sacred for me; but it is now a source of no slight gratification to me to reflect that both ex- amples of this locally rare species, that I schemed for days /09 to obtain, defied my youthful efforts, and never even gave me the chance of a shot. On the Lake of Geneva, in the neighbourhood of Lausanne, this species was very abundant during the winter of 1850~51, and we devoted a good deal of time to the method of “chasse” described with considerable accuracy in ‘ Yarrell.’ I have, in years long gone by, met with a good many of these Grebes during the spring and summer upon certain of the “Broads” of East Norfolk; their habits in that district are most graphically described by the Rev. R. Lubbock in his ‘Fauna of Norfolk,’ published in 1845; but it must be most gratifying to all lovers of birds to know that the gloomy anticipations of this author as to the then very probable extinction of the “Loon” in the localities of which he wrote so lovingly, have not been verified, as Mr. T. Southwell, who has just brought to a successful conclusion the admirable ‘Birds of Norfolk’ left un- finished by the late accomplished naturalist Mr. Henry Stevenson, informs us that, owing to the various pro- tective Acts of Parliament and the goodwill of many Norfolk Jand- and water-owners, the Grebe is now fairly numerous again in many of its favourite haunts. As the habits of this bird in Norfolk have been described at length in the works just mentioned, I will merely say with regard to England that my experience, as far as it goes, confirms the details there given in every respect. I found several pairs of the Great Grebe breeding on some small sheets of fresh water in Andalucia in May 1872, in company with many EHared Grebes (P. nigri- collis), Little Grebes (P. fluviatilis), and two species of Tern (Hydrochelidon hybrida and H. nigra); the nests of all these birds were built amongst the water-weeds that almost entirely covered the water, without any attempt at concealment, though, in the case of the present species, the sitting bird very deftly covered her eggs by two plucks at the surrounding weeds before “going below.” Some of the Grebes’ eggs were fresh, most of them partially incubated, and a few within a day or two of hatching; the latter were of a rich cinnamon or chocolate colour, and we found specimens varying from that hue through all the gradations of light rust-colour, buff, and pale yellow, to their normal colour of greenish white. I must mention that the water of the little lakes to which I refer was strongly impregnated with iron, and the surrounding land of a rich yellowish red. ‘This species is to be met with during the winter in all the suitable localities of the Mediterranean coasts that I have visited. One of the most remarkable facts that I have noticed in connection with the subject of this article is that a breeding pair may occasionally be found, of which one bird has the crest and ruff or tippet fully developed, whilst its mate remains without any trace of these ornaments. I may add that the great majority of the eggs of this species that I have examined iz situ were more or less wet, in some few instances actually lying in water. RED-NECKED GREBE, PODICEPS GRISEIGENA (Boddaert). Colymbus grisegena, Boddaert, Tabl. des Pl. Enl. p. 55 (1783). Colymbus rubricollis, Naum. ix. p. 720. Podiceps rubricollis, Macg. v. p. 259; Hewitson, ui. p. 448. Podiceps griseigena, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 124; Dresser, viii. p. 639. Grebe jou-gris, French; Rothhalsiger Taucher, German ; Zambullidor, Spanish. As this is a species that I never met with alive, I merely mention here that, although it has never been known to nest in the United Kingdom, it is by no means an uncommon autumnal visitor to various parts of the British coasts, especially to those of the Eastern counties of England and Scotland. ‘This Grebe is said to breed abundantly in Denmark, Northern Germany, Sweden, and Russia. From the records given by many authors it appears to closely resemble the Great Crested Grebe in general habits, except that it does not use its wings in diving. Colonel Irby identified several of this species at Ras-Doura in Morocco in April, and quotes from the notes of Favier to the effect that some of these birds remain to breed in that country *. * Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar’ (London, 1875). ‘(Aenppog) euadiesiss sdoorpog ‘HEaRaAD GAAYXOUN-dau ‘UO ‘9Aetg MA ‘OMT ‘CumT) snytane sdeotpog ‘AGAYSD NVINOAYIOS HO ‘GANYOH ‘GaALSAUS YASSAT “ayplog ‘AGTH “AA ‘OUTTT se nstenpntance Am ~My LESSER CRESTED, HORNED, or SCLAVONTAN GREBE. PODICEPS AURITUS (Linn.). Colymbus auritus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 222 (1766); Naum. ix. p- 768. Podiceps cornutus, Macg. v. p. 264; Hewitson, ii. p. 444. Podiceps auritus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 128; Dresser, viii. p. 645. Grebe cornu, French; Ohren-Taucher, German; Escabuso pardo, Buida-frascos, Valencian. This bird, although by no means an uncommon autumnal or winter visitor to Great Britain and Ireland, has not as yet been found breeding in any part of the United Kingdom. My personal acquaintance with this Grebe is limited to a few distant observations on the river Nene, near Lilford, during the winter, and (as I am firmly persuaded) a pretty close view of one on wing in July 1887. I cannot therefore relate anything from my own experience as to the nesting or other habits of this bird, so refer my readers to other writers for details, especially to an extract from the writings of the late Mr. Proctor, as quoted in the 4th edition of ‘Yarrell.’ I add, for the information of the unlearned in Grebes, that the present species may at all times be distinguished from the Hared Grebe—the only British species with which it might otherwise be confounded— by the remarkable difference in the form of the beak, which in the subject of this article is straight, whilst the lower mandible of the former bird has a very marked upward inclination. = | “ ¥ - ) = oli ‘ - 2 Ss ‘4 7 » / - 4 S 2 - ig = Om 7 7 d ~ — : = re, a d nl y a be ‘ ° . vv + eis J ‘wyag “TQ “Stjoolrsiu sdasipog AEqaD Gdaava Uiplog “BA01H * Aq 'OUIET a Log tn Beary, 6. bare EARED GREBE. PODICEPS NIGRICOLLIS, C. L. Brehm. Podiceps nigricollis, C. L. Brehm, Vig. Deutschl. p. 963 (1831); Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 133; Dresser, viii. p. 651. Colymbus cornutus, Naum. ix. p. 739. Colymbus arcticus, Naum. ix. p. 755. Podiceps auritus, Macg. v. p. 270; Hewitson, i. p. 445. Grébe oreillard, French ; Schwarz-hals Ohrtaucher, Ger- man; Zambullidor menor, Spanish. My own acquaintance with this species was originally formed in the Mediterranean, and subsequently carried on in certain parts of Spain that are not bordered by that sea. The only British specimen that I have ever handled “in the flesh” was a fine male with fairly deve- loped ear-tufts, that was shot by Lord Clifton from my yacht’s gig in Weymouth Bay in April 1876. Many specimens have been obtained (some of them in complete breeding-dress) in Norfolk, Suffolk, and the southern counties of England; it also occurs in Scotland and Treland. Mr. H. Saunders, from whose invaluable ‘Manual’ I quote these particulars, refers to the ‘Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Nat. Hist. Society’ to the effect that the late well-known collector Mr. E. Booth had “a full-plumaged adult and a couple of downy mites’? brought to him by a Norfolk marshman. In the winter months I have found this bird in great numbers in the bays and creeks of the Mediterranean, in Southern and Eastern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Tunis, aud in all parts of the Ionian and Albanian shores, as well as on inland lakes and lagoons. I also found it tolerably common in November and December in the harbour of Santander. In the early summer of 1872 we found a few pairs of this Grebe breeding on some small freshwater pools in a wild district of Anda- lucia; the nests were more substantially built than those of the Great Crested and Little Grebes that were also frequenting the locality ; but I could not observe any remarkable difference of habits in this species from those of their more abundant relations just mentioned. The Eared Grebe is exceedingly common in the breeding-season in many parts of N. Africa, and ranges southward to the Cape. | Litho. W. Greve, Berlin. o1|co LITTLE GREBE or DABCHICK. Podiceps minor (Briss.). LITTLE GREBE or DABCHICK. PODICEPS MINOR (Briss.). Colymbus minor, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 56 (1760); Naum. ix. p- 785. Sylbeocyclus europeus, Macg. v. p. 276. Podiceps minor, Hewitson, ii. p. 446. Podiceps fluviatilis, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 187; Dresser, viii. p. 659. Le Castagneux, French; Kleiner Taucher, German; Zam- bullidor chico, Somormyo, Spanish. This quaint-looking little bird is resident and more or less common in suitable localities throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and breeds on quiet waters amongst reeds and flags, occasionally without any attempt at concealment of its nest, which is a simple platform of various water-plants. The first eggs are generally laid early in April; four is about the average number of a sitting, although more are occasionally to be met with: when first laid they are of a greenish white, but from the habit of the bird of covering them with wet and dead weed whenever she leaves the nest, they often pass through a stage of buff to a dirty brown, and, under the hot sun of Southern Europe, not uncommonly to a deep chocolate colour, Of late years, as I am informed, several pairs of Dabchicks have reared their broods annually on the ornamental water in St. James’s Park. Mr. Harting has recorded the finding of a nest on the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens, and I have several times seen Dabchicks near the bridge that spans the Serpentine; these metropolitan Grebes naturally become perfectly tame and permit very close observation, but in less frequented localities they are, in my experience, somewhat shy of man during the summer months, and as the water is their natural home concealment is easy. My principal opportunities of close observation of this bird in England have been on the river Nene during protracted frosts ; at these seasons almost every “ wake” or hole in the ice is tenanted by one or two Dabchicks or ‘“ Didoppers” as they are locally called, the vigour and suddenness of their dives, and their fashion of coming to the surface again like a cork, as if they could not help it, are most amusing, and have often detained me a delighted spectator, till my numbed feet warned me that it would be prudent to move on. In the summer-time the Dabchick obtains much of its food upon or close to the surface of the water, in the shape of aquatic insects and tadpoles ; but, when the frost has put an end to the existence of the insects, and tadpoles have developed into hybernating frogs, the minute fry. of fishes furnish our birds with their daily food. Although these birds are very averse to take wing, they can, and frequently do, take considerable aerial journeys, as is proved in my experience, not only by several instances of their being killed by contact with telegraph and other wires, but also by their sudden appearance upon isolated small ponds at a distance from their usual haunts. The usual note of the Little Grebe is a somewhat plaintive low single note, but where many are together in the late summer I have frequently heard them utter a shrill and prolonged cry almost amounting to a scream. It has been stated that this species is capable of running swiftly, and the authority quoted in 4th edition of ‘Yarrell’ is so good that I cannot doubt it, but, in the cases of several of these birds that have been brought to me uninjured, the only method of progression was an awkward struggle with wings and legs with the whole of the breast on the floor; this bird, however, is the only species of Grebe that I have distinctly observed standing upright on its feet on land or upon the edge of the nest. | Ee \ sca mae ace uu ‘eotsejod erieyjo901g "THALAdI-WaAOLS “UILlOg ‘OAC * Ay TOUT STORM-PETREL. PROCELLARIA PELAGICA, Linn. Procellaria pelagica, Linn. S. N. i. p. 212 (1766); Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 42. Thalassidroma pelagica, Naum. x. p. 557; Macg. v. p. 460 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 517 ; Dresser, viii. p. 491. Thalassidrome tempéte, French ; Sturm-Schwalbe, German ; Diablo de mar, Pastorcito, Spanish. This little bird is one of those with which I have very little more than a travelling acquaintance. My own oceanic experience is confined to a few trips across the Bay of Biscay en route to and from Spain; but on these trips I never failed to observe some of the present species ; no matter what the weather might be, there was “Mother Carey’s Chicken” equally at home amongst the Atlantic “ rollers ” driven before a westerly gale, or skimming the calm surface of the sea in the full blaze of an August sun. I have also frequently seen one or two of this species off our southern coasts in July and August, as we were “hooking” for whiting from the deck of my yacht; but with the exceptions of some half-dozen that played round our vessel as she lay at anchor off the town of Vigo, and a solitary indi- vidual extracted from its nesting-hole on a remote island in Scilly, I never met with this Petrel elsewhere than on the open sea. ‘To us landsmen there is a certain “uncanny ”’ feeling on seeing for the first time our ship in a breeze of wind or a calm suddenly environed or-foliowed by these little black Swallow-like birds, that seem to have sprung from the water, and are so entirely different in flight and appearance from what we are accustomed to call sea-birds from the standpoint of ¢erra firma. The Storm-Petrel is not infrequently driven inland by stress of weather, and occa- sionally picked up dead or dying at a great distance from the sea; but, in my own experience, these occur- rences are not so common in the case of this species as in that of several other oceanic birds, e. g. the Manx Shearwater, the Fork-tailed Petrel, and the Puffin. The present bird breeds in colonies on many, if not most, of the islands lying off the coasts of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, also in one or two of the islets of the Scilly group, but has not, so far as I can learn, been hitherto found breeding upon the mainland or islands off any part of the eastern coast of England. One egg only is laid, and generally deposited under stones fallen from the sea-cliffs or in burrows in soft soil. A very graphic and interesting description of the nesting-habits of the Storm-Petrel in a locality of the latter sort will be found given by the late H. D. Graham in the ‘ Birds of Iona and Mull’ (Edinburgh, 1890). I have met with this species sparsely throughout the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Cyprus, but never had the good fortune to discover a breeding-haunt ; it is, however, well known to nest on many of the numerous islands of that sea. According to Buffon the name of “ Petrel” was applied by English sailors to this bird from its frequent habit of touching the water with its feet, thereby re- calling the attempt of the Apostle Peter to walk upon the Lake of Tiberias, but most of the modern sea- faring men of my acquaintance call the present species ‘Mother Carey’s Chicken ” or “ Sea-Swallow.”” Many authors are agreed as to the excellence of the flesh of the Storm-Petrel. These birds roam the ocean through- out the night, in fact they are seldom seen abroad near their breeding-places during the period of incubation, till the sun is low upon the horizon. ie Ole, ‘eoyrIOONe] eLIejes01g “TWaALAd GATIWL-waHOH4 ‘UNTAO “OACID “AM “OT}T'T FORKED-TAILED PETREL. PROCELLARIA LEUCORRHOA, Vieillot. Procellaria leucorrhoa, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. xxv. p. 422 (1817). Thalassidroma leachii, Naum. x. p. 575; Macg. v. p. 451; Hewitson, ii. p. 520. Cymochorea leucorrhoa, Yar. ed. 4, iv. p. 37. Thalassidroma leucorrhoa, Dresser, viii. p. 497. Thalassidrome cul blanc, French. Although it appears that this Petrel is only known to breed in two or three British localities, it is, in my experience, much more frequently picked up, storm- driven, inland than the common Storm-Petrel. In Northamptonshire, for instance, I am acquainted with four or five occurrences of the present species in recent years, whilst I only know positively of one Storm- Petrel having been met with in the county. I have seen a few Forked-tailed Petrels in the ‘‘ chops of the channel” and in the Bay of Biscay, but have no more intimate acquaintance with the bird. In flight and general demeanour at sea this Petrel closely resembles the Storm-Petrel, but at close quarters alongside or astern, may readily be distinguished from that bird by its larger size, its forked tail, and its generally lighter colour. ‘This Petrel ranges as far south as the island of Madeira on our side of the Atlantic, and is occasionally met with in the Mediterranean. An interesting account of the breeding-habits of this bird as observed by Mr. Dixon during a visit to St. Kilda in 1884 will be found in Seebohm’s ‘British Birds, vol. iii. pp. 444-446. RIDGWAY’S PETREL. PROCELLARIA CRYPTOLEUCURA (Ridgway). Cymochorea cryptoleucura, Ridgw. Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. iv. p. 337. Oceanodroma cryptoleucura, Wilson, Aves Hawaiienses, part iv.; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 350; Ogilvie Grant, Ibis, 1896, p. 53; Saunders, Ibis, 1896, p- 401. Under this name Mr. Ridgway in 1881 described the Forked-tailed Petrel of the Sandwich Islands ; he after- wards traced it to the Galapagos. Still more recently it has been recognized as an inhabitant of St. Helena and the Salvage Islands in the Atlantic. It has now found a place in our fauna, a bird undoubtedly of this species having been picked up dead on the beach at Littlestone, in Kent, on 5th December, 1895, and passed into the collection of Mr. Boyd Alexander before it was skinned. It has also occurred in North America. [Osa (honbpyy) einonejoydAs9 viieyjaco.ig *TJauULad SAWMOdIa “uTpog ‘daar "Mh OUT 7/ ‘(yny) SnoTUReD0 sayIUeBDO “TAALAd S NOSTIM ao GaASSOAT-ONOT ULM CATH “A ‘OUFTT LONG-LEGGED or WILSON’S PETREL. OCEANITES OCEANICUS (Kuhl). Procellaria oceanica, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool. p. 136 (1820). Thalassidroma wilsonii, Macg. v. p. 456. Oceanites oceanicus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 48; Dresser, viii. p- 505. This Petrel, about whose habits I know nothing from personal observation, has been met with occasionally in England, and it is not improbable that it may have sometimes escaped special notice or record, from having been mistaken for a more common British species of the family to which it belongs. I quote from the 4th edition of ‘ Yarrell’ to the effect that it has been found breeding on Kerguelen Island, and that its range appears to extend over the South Atlantic to Australia and New Zealand, and across the South Pacific to Chili and Peru. In the North Atlantic it is common along the American coasts, visiting the West Indies and Mexico. ‘These statements are followed by a detailed and very interesting account of the breeding-habits of this Petrel as observed on Kerguelen Island by the Rev. A. E. Eaton. I gather from these details that the general habits of this species closely resemble those of the other small members of the Petrel group. This bird has been met with on the west coast of France, and rarely in the Mediterranean. The only specimen in my possession was obtained in the Bay of Arosa, in the North-west of Spain. WHITE-FACED PETREL. PELAGODROMA MARINA (Latham). Procellaria marina, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 826. Thalassidroma marina, Gould, Birds Austr. vii. pl. 61. Pelagodroma marina, H. A. Macpherson, Ibis, 1891, p. 602; Grant, Ibis, 1896, p. 51; Dresser, Suppl. p. 399. Two occurrences. The Rev. H. A. Macpherson records that after a severe gale, in November 1890, a dead bird of this species was washed ashore on Walney Island with a number of other birds, including a Wilson’s Petrel. Mr. W. Eagle Clarke (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, no. 41, p. xxviii) reports that on Ist January, 1897, a female of this Petrel was captured alive by the margin of a stream on the west side of the island of Colonsay, and that the specimen is now preserved in the Museum of Science and Art at Edinburgh. The bird has a very wide range over the seas of the southern hemisphere and breeds on some islands lying near Cape Leeuwin, the southwesternmost corner of Australia, and elsewhere. It has long been noticed in the neighbourhood of the Canary Islands, and quite recently Mr. Ogilvie-Grant found a well-established colony on Great Salvage Island, north of the Canary group. Many pairs were breeding there at the end of April 1895. ‘This colony brings Pelagodroma marina comparatively near our shores. (0. 8.] ‘(unyjy'T) BULBU BUWO.IpOSYag “TaaLad-ALYOINH AO CAHOWH-ALIHM Ss Sa "UTLOg SA0NH “MM “OUTTT yd mY ha ed > && & n 7 Mane ® Ve hy | 4 GREAT SHEARWATER. PUFFINUS MAJOR, Faber. Puffinus major, Fader, Prodr. isl. Orn. p. 56 (1822). Puffinus cinereus, Macg. v. p. 438. Puffinus major, Hewitson, ii. p. 516; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 12; Dresser, viii. p. 527. Pétrel puffin, French. This Shearwater appears irregularly, occasionally in large numbers, on our southern and western coasts. I had the good fortune, in company with Mr. W. Vingoe, of Penzance, to find a very fine fresh specimen dead on the beach near Marazion, in the summer of 1852, and this year (1888) purchased the specimen from which the drawing for the Plate was taken, of that well- known and excellent taxidermist, recently deceased. This specimen was killed some years ago in Mount’s Bay. It is impossible to distinguish this species on the wing from the large Shearwater of the Mediterranean (P. kuhii), but one or the other species is frequent at all seasons in the Bay of Biscay and off the west coast of Spain and Portugal. The fishermen in Scilly assured me that a pair or two of “ Hagbolts,” as they call this bird, bred amongst the rocks of one of the south-western islets of the group, and I saw several during my stay at St. Mary’s in 1852. wagng “a1ofeu snuyjng AAHLYMUAYAHS Lyaad UNE ‘ACID “AA “OTT SOOTY SHEARWATER. PUFFINUS GRISEUS (Gmei.). Procellaria grisea, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 564 (1788). Puffinus cinereus, Macg. v. p. 438. Puffinus griseus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p.17; Dresser, viii. p. 523. The Sooty Shearwater is a bird of immense oceanic range, being reported as common off the coasts of Labrador and Greenland, and found on those of Chili, California, S. Africa, Australia, and N. Zealand (Yarrell ut supra). It is an irregular, but not a very uncommon, visitor to our coasts. The drawings for the Plate were taken from two birds obtained on the coast of Yorkshire, and kindly lent to me by Mr. J. Backhouse, jun., of York. I have several times observed large Shearwaters in the Bay of Biscay and off the Spanish coast that showed no trace of white in their plumage, and must, I think, have belonged to this species. (jumpy) -snasiid snuyjng “AACLYMUYVYAHHS ALOOS . = > . . [ rae) 2 2 : ; ‘ be ¢° : alos ; en | » 5 « - * as 5 ae es => al ‘ » . : \ a \ : , i 5 ~ . Pe ‘ ; s ae ; : e_* > x > v. \ * > , a ‘ ——— — = MANX SHEARWATER. PUFFINUS ANGLORUM (Temm.). Procellaria anglorum, Temm. Man. d’Orn. ii. p. 806. Puffinus anglorum, Macg. v. p. 441; Hewitson, ii. p. 514; Dresser, viii. p. 517; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 21. Pétrel Manks, French; Nordischer Tauchersturmwogel, German; Skraapur, Feroese ; Skréfa, Islandic. A well-known and common species in the North Atlantic Ocean, chiefly on the eastern or European side. Many nesting-places are known on islands off the western coast of the British Islands and round the coast of Ireland. It also breeds im some numbers on the Feroes and is found on the coast of Norway and throughout the North Sea. In the Mediterranean a closely allied form, called P. yelkouan, occurs, the distinctness of which is ques- tionable. This southern bird has been traced to the Atlantic and to the shores of Devonshire. (OSs ‘(wway) wniojsur snuyjyng “AAGLYMUVYAHS XNYW “UlLieg ‘OAQID “AA OUIT (wyauy “7 “f) snunosqo snuiyndg “UMALVMUVAHS ANWSNG in a “NOGNO? ‘OIGNLS LYV ‘OHLIN-OWOUHO DUSKY SHEARWATER. PUFFINUS OBSCURUS (J. F. Gmelin). Procellaria obscura, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 559 (1788). Puffinus obscurus, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 27. Only two occurrences of this bird in our country have hitherto been recorded—one off the island of Valentia, in May 1853, and the other near Bungay, in Suffolk, in April 1858; but as the only remarkable differences between it and the Manx Shearwater are the smaller size and darker general colour of the upper parts in the present species, I consider it as more than probable that the Dusky Shearwater may often occur off our coasts without special notice. In this connection I may state that, although I am totally unacquainted with this species, even “in skin,” I have frequently noticed considerable difference in the spread of wings in the smaller Shearwaters seen during sea-passages from this country to Gibraltar. The Dusky Shearwater is said to have a wide range, both in the Atlantic and the Pacific. It was formerly plentiful on the Bermudas, and breeds in numbers on the Bahamas; in both of these localities it is, or was, known by the name of “Pimlico.” It is also met with on the Desertas and other islets. in the neighbourhood of Madeira, as well as in the Canarian group. In all respects it closely resembles the Manx Shearwater in habits and breeding- localities. BULWER'S PETREL. PROCELLARIA BULWERIL, Jardine & Selby. Procellaria bulwerii, Jardine and Selby, Ill. Orn. ii. pl. 65 (circa 1829). Puffinus columbinus, Moguin-Tandon, Orn. Canar. p. 44 (1841). Thalassidroma bulwerii, Macg. v. p. 449 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 522. Bulweria colombina, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 34. Bulweria columbina, Dresser, viii. p. 551. The drawing for the Plate was taken from a specimen very kindly lent to me for the purpose by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, who informed me that it was picked up dead on Tanfield Bridge, near Ripon, on May 8th, 1837. It was exhibited by Professor A. Newton at a meeting of the Zoological Society in November 1887, and Mr. Eagle Clarke wrote about that time to me, stating his intention of depositing it in the Leeds Museum. ‘This, according to the Editor of ed. 4 Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds,’ was the only authenticated British example of this species known at the time of his writing. Bulwer’s Petrel is reported as common in the Canarian group of islands, and in the Desertas near Madeira. As Pp nupay "UIaM[NG eBlIR]eI01g “‘TE2aLad SaAaMINE COLLARED PETREL. GSTRELATA BREVIPES (Peale). Procellaria brevipes, Peale, U. S. Expl. Exp. viii. pp. 294, 337, pl. lxxx. (Hstrelata brevipes, Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 408. Procellaria torquata, J. Macgillivray, Zool. xviii. p. 7138. (Kstrelata torquata, Harting, Zool. 1890, p. 454; Salvin, Ibis, 1891, p. 411, pl. ix. One occurrence. At the end of November or the beginning of December, 1889, a bird of this species was shot between Borth and Aberystwith, and an account of its capture was furnished by Mr. J. Willis Bund to Mr. Harting, who published it in the ‘ Zoologist.’ The species is there and elsewhere called by J. Macgillivray’s name (@. torguata, but from a comparison of types there is no doubt that it is the same as the bird first described by Titian Peale as @. brevipes. Peale obtained his specimens in lat. 60° S. in the Pacific Ocean, when he accompanied the United States exploring expedition under Commodore Wilkes. Macgillivray found his bird on one of the New Hebrides Islands, where they were breeding. It has also been obtained on the Fiji Islands. [Orsa ‘(ajnag) SOdiAaiq vye]I14S7) ‘TJHALAd CGAHAYTIOO ‘uypteg ‘oAonyH "Ay “OUT Sy] ad : P P / - . ; a _ . . < , Z S ie ; a - t ’ (a - : ce ay aN 2 4 : > * > > LS» oa i \ oie » a2 2 | a Sr a : 7 § orn ‘ea oo : ae > in 4 7 CAPPED PETREL. CESTRELATA HASITATA (Kuhl). Procellaria hasitata, Kuhl, Beitr. Zool. i. p. 142; Temm. Pl. Col. 416; Newton, Zool. 1852, p. 3691. (strelata hesitata, Dresser, vii. p.545; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 8. _ One occurrence. Prof. Newton recorded that in March or April, 1850, a boy captured and killed a bird of this species on a heath at Southacre, near Swaffham in Norfolk. This bird was preserved by the late E. C. Newcome and placed in his collection. Two casual occurrences of this Petrel have been re- ported from the Continent of Europe; but its home is or was the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, where it was once not uncommon. Recent travellers, however, have failed to discover it in its old haunts. But that other colonies of it exist seems to be certain from the fact that three specimens were captured or found dead in as many places in the Eastern States of America after the great cyclonic storm which devastated the coast of South Carolina on August 26-27, 1893 (cf. Allen, Auk, 1894, p- 241). (ORs3| (ry) ByeyseBy P1Lv[alS%) ‘JAALAd GaddWoO wn “UTpPOg, “OAOTH “AA OUI} | FULMAR. FULMARUS GLACIALIS (Linn.). _ Procellaria glacialis, Linn. S. N. 1. p. 218; Naum. x. p. 589; Hewitson, ii. p. 512. Fulmarus glacialis, Macg. v. p. 429; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 1; Dresser, viii. p. 535. Pétrel Fulmar, French; His Mewensturmvogel, German ; Is-Stormfugl, Danish; Heavhestur, Feroese ; Fylingur Fill, Islandic ; Havhest Stormfugl, Norwegian. A species of the North Atlantic Ocean, an allied form taking its place in the Pacific. The Fulmar has long been known to breed on the islands of the St. Kilda group, and, of late years, on Foula and Papa Stour in the Shetlands, as well as on several of the Feroes. At other seasons birds are found occasionally all round our coasts. Besides the birds of normal colour, as depicted in the foreground of the Plate, others of varyimg shades of nearly uniform slate-colour are not uncommon mingled with the ordinary form. Such a bird is shown standing on a rock on the left of the Plate. A rarer form is pure white, and a few birds in this dress appear at St. Kilda every year, where several have been taken. The Fulmar is certainly increasing in numbers and establishing fresh breeding-stations on our northern outlying islands. The colours of the bill, eye, and feet in the Plate were taken by Mr. Thorburn from a sketch made at the request of Lord Lilford by Prof. Newton at St. Kilda, 25th June, 1895. [O. S.] ‘Cuury) siperorys sniewyny ‘aAWWT104 “urtieg “PAGS “AA OUT ew 2 ee a -Y >. ~~ ao al oe te OF gt oO ae ee Ae ee al ~~ =) a = te pe 2 oe ee a a nm a ee ne oe eo eo ee, ee < ‘ - ~ —— 548 a ee 7 i, ¢ a . . Be ; . ~ » Owe mm. ¢ * « « a ; ‘ wn : ' er ad