STERCORARIID/E. 



693 



THE I.ONG-TAILED or BUFFON'S SKUA. 



Stercorarius parasi'ticus (Linnceus). 



This circumpolar species is rather smaller and much more attenu- 

 ated than the preceding, and is a less regular migrant to the British 

 Islands. Though naturally more frequent in the north than in 

 the south, it had not been noticed in any numbers in Scotland 

 until the autumn of 1891 ; on the east side of England, however, 

 it is comparatively common, especially between the mouth of the 

 Tees and Flamborough Head, and many birds, some of them adults, 

 were killed during the great storms of October 1879. Though rarer 

 to the southward, this species is met with along the Channel, where 

 it was abundant in October 1891, when individuals were also 

 obtained inland. Until the invasion of 1891, the west was seldom 

 visited, though old birds had occurred there in spring on several 

 occasions, one having been shot in Cornwall as late as June 4th 

 1877, and another in Cumberland on June 3rd 1885. In Ireland 

 it has been noticed in autumn, and, sparingly, in spring. 



The Long-tailed Skua does not breed in the Faeroes or Iceland ; 

 but in Norway a few pairs inhabit the Dovrefjeld above the limit of 

 forest-growth, while Wolley, Wheelwright and others found consider- 

 able numbers nesting on the fells of Swedish Lapland to the north 



