200 THE SKUAS 



Hebrides a few pairs breed on the Lews, while other colonies exist on North and 

 South Uist and on some of the smaller islets. In the Orkneys it is apparently con- 

 fined to the parish of N. Walls in Hoy, and one pair breeds on Fair Island, but in 

 the Shetlands it is far more generally distributed, the largest colonies being found 

 in Noss, Fetlar, and Herma Ness. Outside the British Isles it breeds in the Fseroes 

 and Iceland, while in Norway it is found along the coast district, but chiefly north 

 of Trondhjem's Fjord, and in Sweden both on the west and east coasts. There is 

 no recent record of breeding in Denmark, but it nests in Northern Russia on the 

 tundra south to lat. 64 J on the Dwina, and is plentiful in the north-east. It also 

 breeds on Jan Mayen, Franz-Josef Land, Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya, and prob- 

 ably also Waigatz and Kolguev. In Asia it is found along the north of Siberia 

 south to about lat. 67-71, and also on the Commander Isles. In North America it 

 breeds in Southern Greenland and the shores of Davis Strait and along the northern 

 coasts west to Alaska and the Aleutian Isles. In winter its range includes the 

 Mediterranean and N. Atlantic, while it has been recorded as far south as the Cape 

 of Good Hope in Africa ; and it has also occurred in the Persian Gulf, the Indian 

 Ocean, Tasmania, and New Zealand ; and on the coasts of America in Calif ornia and 

 Peru on the west side, and at Rio de Janeiro on the east. [r. c. R. j.] 



3. Migration. Resident within our area as a whole. In winter a regular 

 migration takes place from the northern breeding-haunts down the west coast of 

 Scotland and the east coast of Great Britain. The species' visits to the south of 

 England are less frequent, and it is of irregular occurrence on the west (cf. Saunders, 

 III. Man. B. B., 2nd ed., 1899, p. 691). To the Irish coasts it is a not infrequent 

 winter visitor, but rare in the summer months (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of 

 Ireland, 1900, p. 351). It is probable that a proportion of these winter birds 

 come from beyond our area. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Although this species breeds in colonies the nests are 

 generally some distance apart, and in the British Islands its favourite haunts are 

 wide expanses of hummocky moorland, or in some cases at a considerable height on 

 mountains near the sea. The nest is generally a mere depression in the moss, 

 scantily lined with grasses or bits of heather. (PI. XLVH.) The eggs are normally 

 two in number, though occasionally three eggs have been found in a nest. They 

 vary in shape even in the same clutch, while the ground-colour ranges from pale 

 olive-green to deep olive-brown, and exceptionally pale blue or pale buff varieties 

 have been met with. The markings consist of spots and blotches of deep umber or 

 blackish and a few ashy brown shellmarks. (PI. J.) Average size of 31 eggs, 



