RICHARDSON'S SKUA. 703 



Thomas Allis, in 1844, wrote : 



Larus rtchardsonn. Richardson's Skua A specimen is reported 

 by Saml. Gibson to have been picked up in Halifax about seven years 

 ago ; it is occasionally met with on the coast. A. Strickland remarks : 

 " Considerable numbers of this bird occasionally visit us after the 

 breeding time, mostly young birds." 



Richardson's Skua is the commonest of the four members 

 of this family occurring on our coast, and is a regular autumn 

 bird of passage, arriving about the early part of August, 

 at which period both young and old are frequently to be met 

 with. The earliest date of its appearance at Spurn is ist 

 August 1880, when several were seen going southward ; 

 on the Cleveland coast a flock of about a hundred was 

 observed on I2th July 1881, flying high towards the north- 

 west, at 8-30 p.m. ; and on 27th July 1904, I saw two adults 

 of the white-breasted form harassing the Black-headed Gulls 

 which frequented the vicinity of Redcar Pier. 



From the middle of August to the end of September, and 

 into October, this Skua is very abundant at sea, pursuing the 

 Gulls and Terns on whose industry it subsists, whilst in 

 exceptional cases it has been known to remain as late as 

 December. It doubtless occurs on the passage northward 

 in spring, but has, so far, escaped observation at that period. 



In 1879, the year of the great invasion of Skuas, this 

 species was very numerous in August and September, many 

 mature specimens being observed with their larger relatives, 

 S. pomatorhinus. Sometimes Richardson's Skua is noticed 

 in flocks, and I believe this congregating of birds of this family 

 was not generally known before 1879, although I saw two 

 flocks, each containing twenty birds, on 8th October 1877 ; 

 since that time large bodies have often been observed ; in 

 October 1886, several parties passed Redcar during a south- 

 east gale, and in September 1887 a flock of thirty flew high 

 overhead to the north-west, making a continuous screaming 

 call. At Flamborough the species was abundant in 1865 

 and 1879, and was noted in autumn 1887, passing the Head- 

 land, going southward, flock after flock, some extending for 

 a mile in length ; many were also noticed in September 1895, 



