Ornitholoyy of St. Kilda. 87 



Larus canus. 



The Common Gull is included in the list of St. -Kilda birds 

 by Sir William Milner, who states that it breeds on Borreay. 

 I did not observe this species. Macgiliivray says that it is 

 the least common of the Gulls. 



Larus tridactylus. '^ Ruideag." • 



The Kittiwake is certainly the commonest Gull in St. Kilda, 

 and the steepest part of the cliffs is white with them. Great 

 numbers breed on Doon and Soay^ and it also nests in 

 smaller quantities amongst the Fulmars at the back of Con- 

 nacher. It breeds on the several ^' stacks/^ and I heard it 

 crying from the cliffs of Bon^eay. It is said to arrive in the 

 first half of April and to leave in August. 



I never observed a Tern of any species at St. Kilda, nor 

 do I find any recorded from the islands. The island of Bor- 

 reay, which Gray speaks about as a breeding-place of the 

 Arctic Tern {Sierna arctica), is an island of the Outer He- 

 brides in the Sound of Harris, and must not be confused with 

 Borreay, the island laying four miles N.W. of St. Kilda. 



Stercorarids crepidatus. 



Sandy Campbell informed, me that an example of Richard- 

 son's Skua was observed on St. Kilda in the summer of 



1883. 



Stercorarius catarrhactes. 



The Great Skua visits St. Kilda at irregular intervals. 



Mergus serrator. " Sheiltach.'' 



The Red-breasted Merganser is a rare visitor to St. Kilda. 

 Sandy shot an example in 1883. During my stay Mr. John 

 Mackenzie shot one in East Bay. No others were seen, but 

 one of the natives brought for my inspection a " Saw-bill," 

 stuffed, by himself in a very rude style, and which he treasures 

 as a great curiosity. 



Somateria mollissima. " Gochach." 

 The Eider-Duck is not very common, but certainly breeds 

 on Doon, where I took a nest on the 10th of June. I have 



