NOTES. 191 



This, liowever, arises from the dual causes named and not 

 from a moult. Bustards moult gradually and never from 

 that cause lose the power of flight. 



Abel Chapman. 



BLACK-HEADED GULL CAPTURING YOUNG 

 WHEATEAR ON THE WING. 



In the month of July a Black-headed Gull {Larus ridibundus) 

 was seen by the bird-watcher at the Ravenglass colony of 

 Gulls and Terns to strike several times at a young Wheatear 

 {Saxicola oenanthe) on the wing, and eventually to kill and 

 fly off with it. The incident happened not on the actual 

 breeding-ground, but on the shore about two miles north of it, 

 and these Gufls were also guilty of kilhng young Terns there 

 this year, and vice versa, as a fair number of young Gulls 

 are mobbed and killed by the Terns when trespassing on their 

 breeding-ground, as I pointed out last year in British Birds 

 (Vol. III., p. 170). 



H. W. Robinson. 



KITTIWAKES SWIMMING IN VERY HEAVY SEAS. 



On March 10th, 1910, being at anchor in H.M.S. " Dido," 

 about one hundred and twenty miles from land, in the latitude 

 of Edinburgh, in a very heavy sea and strong gale of wind, 

 it was observed that four Kittiwakes {Rissa tridactyla) began 

 to swim and continued to do so for an hour. The sea was 

 not only very large at the time, but was breaking a good deal 

 as well. Wlien a breaking wave or a patch of foaming water 

 approached one of the birds, it raised itself slightly above 

 the level of the sea, as if standing on the surface. In one case 

 at least a small wave was seen to break right over one of the 

 birds, which, however, emerged from the foam shaking itself, 

 but otherwise undisturbed. There were no other gulls about 

 on this occasion. 



On March 16th, on passage from Lerwick in the Shetlands, 

 and about halfway between that and the Orkney Islands, 

 in a very heavy gale, wdth a tremendous sea running, about 

 a dozen Kittiwakes were noted to be swimming in company, 

 and apparently very comfortably. On this occasion numerous 

 Herring-Gulls {Larus argentatus) were flying round about, 

 but none were seen on the water. 



Although Kittiwakes are often seen one hundred miles and 

 more from land in heavy weather, Herring-Gulls appear 

 at such distances only if the weather is fine — at least that is 

 my experience. Kenneth H. Jones. 



