A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



seven were adults (Babington). It has no 

 black on the wings or tail at any age, and 

 the young birds are mottled all over with 

 light brown on a dull white ground. 



257. Iceland Gull. Larm Uucopierus, Faber. 

 The Iceland gull is one of the rarest win- 

 ter visitants. One was shot in Thorpe Mere 

 in January, 1874 (Ipswich Museum), and in 

 the Zoologist for 1892 (p. 1 1 4) Mr. F. M. 

 Ogilvie gives particulars of another shot in 

 January of that year, both of which were 

 immature. This species resembles the glauc- 

 ous gull in colour, but is much smaller, and 

 has far longer wings in proportion to its size. 



258. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.) 

 This gull is a rather irregular winter visi- 

 tant, but sometimes appears in fair numbers 

 in the sprat fishing time. After some heavy 

 gales in February, 1894, an adult bird was 

 picked up in a yard at Bury, and another was 

 found exhausted near Bury in March, 1903, 

 after a westerly gale. 



259. Great Skua. Megalestris catarrhactes 



(Linn.) 



A very rare winter visitant to the coast. 

 An unusually light-coloured specimen in the 

 Ipswich Museum was picked up dead on the 

 beach at Thorpe in January, 1864, and one 

 was shot at Lowestoft in the memorable 

 storm of 18 January, 1 88 1 [Zoologist, 1882, 

 p. 429). It is essentially a sea-rover, rarely 

 approaching the shore. 



260. Pomatorhine Skua. Stercorarius poma- 



torhinus (Temminck) 



An irregular autumn and winter visitant. 

 There was an exceptional immigration all 

 along the east coast in October, 1879, when 

 several were obtained near Aldeburgh (Hele). 



261. Arctic or Richardson's Skua. Stercora- 



rius crepidatus (J. F. Gmelin) 



This is in Suffolk by far the most common 

 of all the four skuas and a regular autumn 

 visitant, sometimes appearing as early as 

 August. It has been obtained in all stages 

 of plumage, and there are several good local 

 specimens in the Ipswich Museum. 



262. Long-tailed or Buffon's Skua. Stercora- 



rius parasiticus (Linn.) 

 A rare autumn visitant which has been 

 obtained a few times on the coast and once 

 near Newmarket, where one was found dead 

 in November, 1891. All the skuas seem to 

 make the return journey to their northern 

 breeding-places by a different route in the 



spring, as they are never seen at that season 

 on the east coast. 



263. Razorbill. Alca tarda, Linn. 



This bird is not uncommon as an autumn 

 and winter visitant, and in late summer quite 

 young ones are seen with their parents, having 

 strayed from their breeding-haunts on the 

 Yorkshire cliflfs. Early in 1872 there was a 

 strange mortality among these birds, which 

 Mr. Hele described in the Field. ' An ex- 

 traordinary advent of and mortality amongst 

 razorbills, numbers of which have been 

 washed ashore. From whence all these in- 

 dividuals have strayed I know not, but imagine 

 that as starvation appears to be in each and 

 every case the actual cause of death they had 

 been in attendance upon some shoals of small 

 fish — probably sprats — which had suddenly 

 taken to deeper water through the generally 

 rough condition of the sea. Certain it is 

 that all the birds I have examined are more 

 or less mature with good and sound plumage. 

 In my walk this morning my dog brought 

 me no less than eleven specimens, and I hear 

 of very many more having been found.' This 

 mortality was not limited to Aldeburgh or 

 even to Suffolk. 



264. Guillemot, t/n'a /r«/7^ (Linn.) 



A visitant at any time of the year except 

 the height of the breeding season, and some- 

 times found inland. One was picked up 

 alive and uninjured at Rougham on 13 March, 

 1896, and sent to the Zoological Gardens. 



265. Black Guillemot. Uria grylle {L'mn.) 



Though a regular breeder in the Orkney 

 and Shetland Islands, the black guillemot is a 

 very rare winter visitant, and the immature 

 bird obtained at Aldeburgh by Mr. Hele in 

 1863 (Ipswich Museum) is perhaps the only 

 Suffolk specimen in existence. 



266. Little Auk. Mergulus alle (Linn.) 

 This little arctic sea-bird is not rare as a 



winter visitant, and more often found inland 

 than any other bird of its kind. There was 

 an extraordinary visitation early in 1895, and 

 little auks were picked up all over the county, 

 though less numerously than in Norfolk. Mr. 

 Hewlett of Newmarket had more than forty 

 (W. Howlett in litt.). 



267. Puffin. Fratercula arctica (Linn.) 

 The quaint-looking puffin is not common 



enough in Suffolk to be known by its York- 

 shire name of ' sea-parrot,' and is a decidedly 

 rare bird. Mr. Hele has given [Notes about 

 Aldeburgh, ed. 1870, p. 164) details of a fine 



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