PROCEEDINGS OP 80QETIE8. 11 



mentions in another place a bird shot at Tramore, county Waterford, now 

 in the collection of T. W. Warren, Esq. ; and in comparing it with my 

 specimens, I find them identical, save in respect of plumage ; but, as if to increaM 

 the difficulty in discrimination, Mr. Thompson, in a note, remarks that Bewick't 

 black-toed gull is Lestris Kichardsonii ; but its plumage, and that only is men- 

 tioned in the manuscript, (no dimensions being given), will serve for the immature 

 Lestris parasiticus almost as well. Among such conflicting statements of eminent 

 men, little weight should be attached to any opinion of mine ; were I to give it, 

 I would say they are the young of the long-tailed Skua— from the fact of their 

 identity with those specimens named by Mr. Thompson ; from their being appa- 

 rently the more plentiful species ; from their being obtained from nearly the same 

 locality on the eastern coast; and from the fact of the adult long-tailed Skua being 

 found on the western coast, and an immature specimen occurring shortly after in 

 the same quarter : still, being aware of the fallibility of human judgment, I would 

 be unwilling to mark them as such in a public collection. I shall now close bj 

 quoting aparagraphfromMr.Thompson'ssummaryof the genus Lestris — "Without 

 the presence of gulls or terns which the Skua makes his caterer — they are not to 

 be seen unless accidentally. Although we cannot admire their predatory cha- 

 racter, they are very interesting birds, from the great power and rapidity of flight 

 which they display. As they come sweeping down on the large gulls it is extraor- 

 dinary to observe these drop their prey, which, apparently, with the next second of 

 time, is appropriated by the robber Bkua. These birds present a singular subject 

 for contemplation in being * bom robbers,' endowed by nature with every faculty 

 that will enable them to bear off and live upon booty seized from or dropped through 

 fear by their most nearly allied species, the gulls and terns." There are three beau- 

 tiful specimens in the Society's Museum of Richardson's Skua, and one of the 

 Pomari.ne. I need not refer to the fifth species, Stercorarius ceppus of Leach, as it 

 has not yet, as far as my information extends, been found in Great Britain. 



Mr. Andrews said that the thanks of the society were due to Dr. Farran for 

 bringing before the meeting this evening such a fine series of the British species 

 of the genus Skua, and especially for obtaining, through the kindness of Dr. Mel- 

 Tille, of Galway, the exceedingly beautiful specimens of the mature bird of the rare 

 species parasiticus. He had no doubt, from the characters shown by one of the 

 specimens in the immature state, which Dr. Farran had lately obtained, that it was 

 the young state of L. parasiticus. There were great differences of opinion as to 

 the true characteristics of L. parasiticus. The specimen before the meeting clearly 

 agreed with the description of Lestris Buffonii, Boie— bill straight, notched ; middle 

 tail feathers long and gradually tapering ; tarsus almost smooth. L. parasiticus 

 Boie — bill straight, broad at base, entire ; middle tail feathers very long, and carry 

 the breadth to within one inch and a-half of the termination, where they are abruptly 

 narrow, and become slender and acute at the point; inhabits theoretic Seas; 

 exceedingly rare on the shores of North America and Europe, the young being 

 only occasionally seen in the more temperate parts. It was remarkable that the 

 young, or immature state of several of our rare Pelagic birds had annually been 

 met with on the western coasts of Ireland, while the mature birds which frequented 

 more northern latitudes were rarely seen. The several species of the Skua breed 

 in the Faroe Islands, and while the old or mature birds seldom came more southerly, 

 the young birds wandered extensively, particularly to more temperature shores ; 

 faence the immaturestateof those birds being of more frequent occurrence. TheL.ca- 

 taractes was the most powerful of this family, and most generally kept at a distance 

 from the land. Off the Blasket Islands 1 have observed those birds in pairs, where 

 they are the terror of the sea-gull tribe, and even the sea-eagle shuns their persecut- 

 ing attacks. The fishermen observed to me that they had seen the fierce and in- 

 trepid peregrine falcon, which breeds on the Tiraght rock, put these binls to flight. 



Doctor Kinahnn confirmed the observations made by Mr. Andrews as to the 

 more extensive migrations of young than old birds. It appcaretl tm though the young 

 birds were not so well fitted for enduring the severity of the winter. He instanced 

 some remarkable examples which came under his observation during bb recent 

 ▼oyage, bearing out those views, especially in reference to the various tpeciee of 

 AlbatrosSf off Cape Horn, and in the southern latitudes. 



