224 Mr. II. J. Pearson on Birds 



mens shot. We were evidently too late for eggs^ but secured 

 a pair of young in down near the mouth of Ncchwatowa 

 River, which we brought home alive. They are doing well 

 and are very tame. One will follow her owner round the 

 gardens and rapidly clears the earwigs out of the pots from 

 the dahlia-sticks. Nothing comes amiss to them, from 

 gorgonzola cheese to rats and mice. Some Great Black- 

 backs from Norway are much more wild, and use their beaks 

 with considerable effect when handled. 



4 21. Larus AFFiNis. Siberian Herring-Gull. 



Two birds were seen on the ice on July 3rd which we 

 thought belonged to this species. 



4.22. Stercorarius pomatorhinus. Pomatorhine Skua. 



On our second attempt to land on Novaya Zemlya we 

 succeeded in reaching the latitude of North Goose Cape 

 July 2nd, but were obliged by the ice to return. Early on 

 the 3rd a dense fog came down, causing us to steam slowly 

 down the edge of the ice at a distance of from eight to 

 ten miles from Goose-land. Birds were about the yacht 

 in numbers all day — especially Briinnich^s Guillemots — and 

 we shot many specimens. Among the species seen that day 

 were Nos. 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, and 30, not one of 

 which w^as observed again during our stay on land from 

 July 17th to July 27th. We shot two Pomatorhine Skuas 

 on the 3rd and saw several others. This w^as one of the species 

 the eggs and young in down of which we were most anxious 

 to secure, but we never saw a Skua of this or any other 

 species on the land of Novaya Zemlya. We think, from our 

 observations, that some birds, especially the Skuas, do not 

 breed in bad seasons. If this idea should prove a fact, it 

 may be a provision of nature to prevent the Skuas becoming 

 too numerous. They are well able to defend their eggs and 

 young from the birds of prey found in the same countries, 

 and equally capable of taking care of themselves ; so 

 the only foes they need fear are old age and deficiency of 

 food. Each time we were at sea east of Vardo we observed 

 a number of Skuas, and on July 29th, when returning 



