664 LARID^. 



Orkneys it has never been known to breed. From the north 

 this species comes down the line of our eastern shore in 

 autumn, and specimens have been obtained from time to 

 time on that side of Scotland, but on the west coast its 

 occurrence is decidedly uncommon. In England it has 

 been observed off the coasts of Northumberland, Durham, 

 Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, 

 Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall ; and occasionally, 

 after severe weather, in some of the inland counties. It is 

 more rarely obtained on its migration northwards in March 

 and April. On the west coast it occurs sporadically. Although 

 never numerically abundant, it appears to be rarer than it 

 really is, its conditions of existence leading it to frequent the 

 fishing-grounds far out at sea where the Gulls which it robs 

 are found in great numbers during the autumn and winter ; 

 and it is well known to the Yorkshire fishermen as the 

 ' Morrel Hen.' The coast of Ireland appears to be seldom 

 visited by it. 



The Great Skua still breeds in the Fseroe Islands ; but 

 owing to the fact of its being considered a rapacious bird, 

 and as such subject to the " Neb-toll," its numbers are 

 rapidly diminishing, as shown by Major H. W. Feilden in 

 an excellent account of the * Birds of the Fseroes ' (Zool. 

 S.S., p. 3290). On the coast of Norway it is very rare, and 

 Mr. K. CoUett informs the Editor that there is no recent 

 confirmation of the statement that it breeds on the Lofoten 

 Islands. Southwards it visits the coasts of the North Sea, 

 without entering the Baltic ; and its winter range can be 

 traced to the north-west of Morocco ; but it has never been 

 proved to go any distance up the Mediterranean, the record 

 of its occurrence in Malta being due to an erroneous identi- 

 fication. Inland it is said to have straggled to the lakes 

 of Switzerland, and to Southern Germany. 



In Iceland it is still tolerably abundant, and four of its 

 principal breeding-places are enumerated by Faber. In South 

 Greenland it was only twice observed by Holboll; but its range 

 appears to extend throughout the Hudson's Bay Territory 

 to Great Slave Lake, and the mouth of the Mackenzie River, 



