56 BRITISH BIRDS. 



1910, it is stated that colonies of the Lesser Black-backed 

 Gull are always strewn with corpses of Puffins, which have 

 been merely disembowelled and left. On the other hand 

 the colonies of the Greater Black-backed Gulls contain no 

 corpses, possibly because they have been swallowed by the 

 larger birds I Mr. Heatherley has never actually seen this 

 take place, but he quotes the evidence of Mr. J. W. Parsons, 

 who states that before being swallowed the Puffin is shaken 

 and ducked under water until drowned. The capacity of 

 the larger Gulls for swallowing is certainly remarkable, and 

 only a week or two ago I sa^v a Mediterranean Herring-Gull 

 pick up a good-sized vole from the water in which it was 

 swimming, and gulp it down alive. — F. C. R. Joukdain. 



The " skinnnig " of the Manx Shearwaters, described hy 

 Mr. Robinson, is much more likely to have been the work of 

 rats than Gulls, although the rats may have finished the 

 carcases and left the skins after the Gulls had partially eaten 

 thcDi. — Eds.] 



FULMARS NESTING IN CAITHNESS. 

 On May 30th, 1911, Mr. B. B. Riviere and I took a boat for 

 the purpose of inspecting the chffs which form Berriedale 

 Head in Caithness. On some of the steei3er faces we found 

 that a small colony of Fulmar Petrels {Fulmarus glacialis) 

 had estabhshed itseK, and as this is probably the most 

 southerly nesting-place of this species in the British Isles, 

 it should be worthy of record. So far as we could see there 

 were from thirty to forty birds altogether, but there may 

 have been more, as it is difficult to distinguish this bird 

 (except in flight) when perched high up among innumerable 

 gulls. Dr. Kennedy, of Dunbeath — the local authority on 

 the birds of his district — was with us, and informed us that 

 he had never seen or heard of this bird breeding there before. 

 There is no doubt that the Fulmar Petrel is increasing its 

 range, as in comparatively recent years it has established 

 liQw colonies on the west and north coasts of Scotland. 



A. H. Meiklejohn. 

 "^ [The Fulmar has been recorded as breeding as far south as 

 Barra (c/. Vol. II., p. 374), but Mr. Meiklejohn's interesting 

 record is considerably more southerly than any previously 

 known breeding-haunt on the mainland. — Eds.] 



RECOVERY OF MARKED BIRDS. 

 In addition to those already ackno^^ ledged, I have received 

 subscriptions towards the expenses of the " marking scheme " 



