PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 81 



nest in Iceland, while it is thinly distributed along the N. Russian and Scandinavian 

 coasts and the Baltic, as well as the great lakes of N. Russia and Finland. Till 

 recently a pair bred in Jylland, and it exists in small numbers in Germany and 

 Austro-Hungary and is plentiful in the lower Danube valley and S. Russia, while 

 scattered pairs nest in the Mediterranean region (Maroccan coast, Sardinia, 

 Balearic Isles, Greece, Cyclades and formerly Egypt). In Asia its breeding range 

 extends from Asia Minor across the northern and temperate parts of the Continent 

 to the Pacific (Manchuria and Ussuria), and it is also resident in Japan. Although 

 a sedentary species, except in the high north, immature birds migrate southward 

 in autumn, and have been recorded in Africa, from Gambia on the west and Egypt 

 on the east side, as well as in South China. [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. Our own few birds may be more or less resident, but 

 immature examples occur as birds-of-passage in autumn and winter, chiefly on 

 the east of England ; adults are rare. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The nesting sites of this species vary considerably. 

 In the north it is mainly a cliff breeder, building on ledges of precipitous rocks 

 overhanging the sea or some large lake, less commonly on some large boulder in 

 low-lying districts, and occasionally on a hillock in the middle of a marsh. In 

 Central and Southern Europe as well as in some parts of Asia the nests are generally 

 built in trees, sometimes not more than 15 or 20 ft. from the ground and at other 

 times 70 or 80 ft. high. A nest which I saw in 1911 was on a low, sandy island, in 

 a lagoon on the Black Sea, only a foot or so above the water level. This was a 

 very slight affair, but other nests seen have been huge structures of branches, 

 moss, seaweed, turf, and almost any available material, heather, feathers, grass 

 clumps, moss, etc., being used as lining material. The share of the sexes in nest- 

 building seems not to have been recorded. The eggs are generally two in number, 

 though several well-authenticated instances of clutches of three are on record. 

 One from Skye is mentioned in the Vertebrate Fauna of the N.-W. Highlands and 

 Slcye, p. 160. They are white, somewhat dull, rough in surface, and without gloss. 

 Nest stains are of course frequent, but in a few cases more or less distinct reddish 

 brown spots have been met with. Incubation, according to Saxby, is chiefly per- 

 formed by the female, though the male also takes part, but in confinement the 

 male and female regularly took turns on the eggs. The period has not been 

 definitely recorded. In Southern Europe the breeding season begins very early, 

 and eggs may be found in February, but in Scotland the more usual time is about 

 the second week of April. Only one brood is reared during the season. [F. c. B. J.] 



VOL. IV. L 



