RICHARDSON'S SKUA. 353 



STERCORARIUS RICHARDSONI. 



RICHARDSON'S SKUA. 



(Plate 55.) 



Stercorarius stercorarius, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 150 (1760). 



Larus parasiticus, Lhui. Si/st. Nat. i. p. 226 (170G, parthn). 



Larus crepidatus, Banks, Hawkesicorth's Voy. ii. p. 15 (1773). 



Lestris crepidatus (Banks), Illu/er, Prodr. p. 273 (1811). 



Catarracta cepplius, Leach, Si/st. Cat. Mamtn. 8fe. Brit. Mm. p. 39 (1816). 



Stercorarius crepidatus (Bcmks), Vieill. N. Diet. (THist. Nat. xxxii. p. 155 (1819). 



Stercorarius cepphus {LeacJt), Swains. Faun. Bor.-Amer. p. 432 (1831). 



Lestris richardsoni, Sxvains. Faun. Boi-.-Amer. p. 433, pi. 73 (1831) ; et auctorum 

 plurimorum — Mac(/iUioray, Audubon, Gould, Meyer, Coues, Nattall, Bonaparte, 

 Eyton, Temminck, Schinz, Thompson, Sclater, &c. 



Cataractes richardsoni (Stvains.), Macyill. Man. Brit. B. ii. p. 257 (1842). 



Lestris spiuicaudus, Hardy, Bev. et May. Zool. p. 657 (1854). 



Lestris hardyi, Bonap. Consp. ii. p. 210 (1857). 



Lestris thuliaca, Preyer, Reise Island, p. 418 (1862). 



Stercorarius richardsoni (Sivains.), Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 18G3, p. 135. 



Stercorarius tephras, Malmyren, Journ. Orn. 1865, p. 392. 



Stercorarius spinicauda (Hardy), Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 366 (1867). 



Stercorarius asiaticus, Hume, Stray Feath. p. 269 (1873). 



Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.), apud (Tunstall), (Boddaert), (Latham), Schaeffer, 

 (F. Faber), (Brehm), {Naumann), (Fleming), (Selby), (Keyserling S; Blasius), 

 Be Selys-Lony champs. Gray, (Middendorff) , (Bonaparte), Lawrence, Blakiston, 

 Degland 8) Gerbe, Coties, Neivton, Andersson, Gould, Hume, (Heuglin), Ball S)- 

 Bannister, Bidler, Sharpe, Baird, Brewer 8)- Ridgway, &c. Nee (Gmdin), 

 (Phipps), (Scoresby), (O. Faber), (Pallas), (llliger), Stvainson Sf Richardson, 

 (IfacgiUivraij), (Temminck), (Jenyns), (Goidd), (Audtibon), (Meyer), &c. 



Richardson's Skua is by far the most common species of the genus 

 which visits the British Islands, but its only known breeding-places are on 

 the Outer Hebrides, principally North and South Uist, and on the Orkney 

 and Shetland Islands ; Booth found it breeding on the moors in Caithness, 

 and it is said to breed regularly in Sutherlandshire. On migration it is 

 found more or less frequently on all parts of the Scotch coast. In 

 England it is best known and most numerous on the east coast, passing 

 regularly on passage, but becomes rarer on the south and west coasts. It 

 has been said to breed near Achil Island in Ireland ; but the evidence is not 

 satisfactory, and it is only known with certainty as a regular visitor on 

 migration to the coasts of that country. It is said to be more abundant 

 in spring than in autumn ; a few non-breeding birds often frequent the 

 English coasts during the summer, and a few remain during the winter. 

 It is sometimes driven inland by bad weather. 



Richardson's Skua is a circumpolar bird, breeding in the arctic and sub- 



