44 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



the Brent Goose Case. I think I had been out to see a 

 ship that had just been wrecked, and driving back 

 saw a flock of Curlews feeding in some fields. As 

 their position was decidedly a weak one, I thought 

 I could manage to surprise them, and I did, getting 

 a right and a left as they rose on the wing. 



In regard to the habitat of this species abroad, 

 Howard Saunders says : " It breeds more or less 

 plentifully in Scandinavia, Russia, Poland, North 

 Germany, Denmark, Holland, and Flanders, as well 

 as on some of the wastes of Brittany. Gatke has 

 described the immense flights which cross Heligoland 

 on migration ; and throughout Central and Southern 

 Europe this species is well known on passage, 

 ranging as far west as the Azores. It winters in 

 Africa from the Mediterranean to Damara Land 

 and Natal, and visits Madagascar." 



CASE 3. 



RICHARDSON'S SKUA. 

 Order ^ Gavi<s. Family, LaridcB. 



This species, also known as the Arctic Skua, 

 breeds in small numbers in Sutherlandshire and 

 Caithness, also rather more plentifully in the Outer 

 Hebrides and Orkneys. There are two varieties, 

 one a sooty colour, the other with light under parts. 

 The former is often called the Dusky Skua to 

 distinguish it from the lighter-plumaged bird, but 

 both inter-breed, that is to say, dusky-coloured birds 



