86 THE BIRDS OF RAINHAM. 



to I ; in every respect they continue with each other 

 until the coast is cleared and the sprats all covered 

 in by the plough. 



GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 

 Larus marinus, Linn. 



The great amount of traffic on the Medway keeps 

 the Great Black-backed Gull at a distance ; they do 

 not like the noise and bustle, therefore make 

 themselves scarce ; are sometimes shot, most often in 

 immature plumage. 



GREAT SKUA. 

 Stercorarius catarrhactes (Linn.). 



The Great Skua has not to my knowledge ever 

 appeared on the Medway. 



POMERINE SKUA. 

 Stercorarius pomatorhinus (Temm.). 



I must extend the bounds of my district in order 

 to include a pair of Pomerine Skuas, which were 

 shot by a bargeman when in the act of killing a 

 Common Gull, beyond Rochester bridge, the 2Oth 

 February, 1882, one a fine adult with yellow collar 

 and a long turned up tail, the other immature, in the 

 brown plumage. A Pomerine Skua was shot flying 



