Vol. XVI 11. j ^(y^y Peat hers. 1 35 



able visitation " in view of the fact that only occasional specimens 

 had previously been met with in Australia, in the extreme north of 

 the continent. The Hon. Mr. Justice Burnside informs me that 

 birds of this species again appeared in the neighbourhood of Perth 

 in April, 1918. He states that on Sunday, 21st April, there was 

 a very heavy blow from the north, and two days later, on 23rd 

 April, he observed one of these birds flying round his yacht, 

 anchored in Freshwater Bay, on the Swan River. On the fol- 

 lowing Sunday, 28th April, when anchored in the yacht off Apple- 

 cross, on the Swan River, he and his companion, Mr. W. A. L. 

 Knox, saw a great number of them flying about over the river. 

 They were apparently mostly adult birds, the black on the under 

 side being very clear and uniform in colour. Mr. Burnside 

 frequently saw them on the river subsequently, but they dis- 

 appeared when winter weather set in in May. I may mention that 

 it was when on Mr. Burnside's yacht that I first met with these 

 birds, as recorded in my previous article, and that he sub- 

 sequently secured several specimens for me, also that Mr. Knox 

 was present on these occasions, so that both these gentlemen 

 are thoroughly familiar with these interesting birds, and there 

 can be no doubt as to the occurrence, though no specimens were 

 secured on this occasion. — ^\V. B. Alexander. Queen's College, 

 Melbourne. 



A Skua and his Victims. — While cruising near Wright Island 

 in the Ripple, with Mr. C. Roberts, during the month of April 

 just past, we were entertained by watching the manoeuvres of a 

 Richardson Skua [Stercorariiis crepidatus) to obtain food without 

 the labour of diving. There were dark patches on the surface 

 of the sea, indicating the presence of shoals of small fish, and over 

 these many Crested Terns {Sterna bergii) were hovering, ever and 

 anon making their shallow dives, or in some instances appearing 

 to pick small fry off the surface. As soon as one had obtained 

 a sufficient cargo and left the hunting-ground he was chased by 

 the pirate Gull and forced to disgorge. The power of flight of 

 the Skua was wonderful. The graceful Tern is no mean performer 

 in the air, but, no matter what turns and twists he made, the 

 pursuer was always there, swooping like a Hawk, until the 

 luckless pursued dropped his fish, when the Gull immediately 

 fell to the surface of the water, gobbled up the spoil, then rose 

 to pursue another victim. The Richardson Skua is not a large 

 bird — the one we saw appeared two or three inches longer than 

 the Tern, but of much more robust build — of a dark brown 

 plumage, and the long central rectrices were very prominent as 

 he flew above the yacht. Mr. A. J. Campbell, in " Nests and 

 Eggs," says that he first saw this species in Port Phillip in 1883, 

 when returning from Tasmania, and has noticed them several 

 times since, but always in summer. It must be a very occasional 

 visitor to our North-West Coast, as this is the first time either 



