20 
Dr. Hamilton, of Deganwy, contributed the following notes in a letter to- 
the Chairman :— 
“On December 12th, 1918, I found on the beach a Buffon’s Skua (Ster- 
corarius longicaudus), which had evidently been dead a long time. I think 
there can be no doubt about its identification, as it had the grey feet and legs 
and long central tail feathers as shown in Thorburn’s plate. Of all the skuas } 
it seems to be the rarest in our district. I saw a Great Skua (Cutharacta 
skua) in the bay some years ago, the same year that Mr. Coward reported 
having seen it. When mackerel fishing outside the Orme’s Head in Septem- 
ber, 1914, a party of five Skuas passed my boat close to and from their size 
they were probably Richardson’s Skuas (Stercorarius parasiticus). They were 
flying rapidly to the Menai Straits. A pair of Ravens have nested on the 
Orme’s Head near the lighthouse, and spend most of their time in the autumn 
and winter feeding on the shore at low water. I rather think that another 
pair nest in the Little Orme. The Peregrines which have also nested on the 
Orme near the Lighthouse for many years have not done so for the last three 
or four years, I think. One of the Peregrines was shot at Conway three or 
four years ago, and I have not seen them about in the summer since. They 
pay us a visit, however, in the winter every year, and to-day I found an Oyster 
Catcher on the shore recently killed and eaten apparently by a Peregrine. 
The Razor-bills and Guillemots have remained with us longer than usual this 
winter, probably due to the mild weather up to this month. I saw a Razor- 
bill swimming oppcsite my house Jast month, and have come across several 
dead Razorbills, Guillemots and Scoters on the shore. I fear the large colony 
of Lesser Rea which have nested every year cn the shingle on the Conway 
side have left for good. They have been getting fewer every year since the 
Morfa Camp was used for training the Militia from May to the end of August. 
The summer before last they appeared in their usual numbers and date of 
May 5th, and began nesting. However they were so much harried by soldiers. 
that in the first week of June they left in a body. Last summer a few came 
about May 5th. I was only able to count three or four pairs and they scon 
left. It will be interesting to see whether they will come this summer, for 
there is every sign of the Engineer’s Camp on the Morfa being broken up. 
Last year I came upon a Water Rail in a ditch which borders the Llandudno 
Golf Links. A friend told me that for several winters a Water Rail roosted 
at night in the thick ivy at the back of his garden in Abbey Road, Llandudno. 
The smaller Lirds have not recovered from the effects of the last severe winter. 
The warren on the Golf Links used to be alive with nesting Pipits and Stone- 
Chats, but last summer I only saw three pairs of Pipits and no Stone-chats. 
These two birds are pretty numerous on the links and shore all through the 
autumn and winter. There were numbers of them there the day before that 
long severe frost set in, but they had gone next day and I saw none until the. 
first day of the thaw, when I found a small party of Pipits and Stonechats 
feeding on the shore. Where they went to or how they managed to find food 
during that long spell of frost is a mystery. This is a very poor estuary for 
Waders and we see very few of the more uncommon ones. There are lots of 
Curlews, Ring Plovers and Oyster Catchers, and in the spring and autumn a 
good many Whimbrels. A few Turnstones come in the late autumn but do not 
stay long. I have twice seen a single Godwit on the shore, and occasionally 
. Sanderling. I saw a very fine specimen of the Lump Sucker (Cyclopterus 
livinpus) fish last summer which a soldier had killed in a rocky pool. I believe 
it is fairly common in the Dee Estuary, but it is the first I have heard of 
here.” 
Mr. Patrick G. Nagle gave the following notes of observations for 1917- 
1918 :— 
Argynnis adippe. Sealand. July. 
Epione apiciaria. Saughall. June. y 
Habrosyae derasa. Saughall. August. 
Chloroclystis rectangulatu. Var.: nigro-sériceata. Chester. June. 
