A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



270. Brown-headed Gull. Larus ridihundus, 



Linn. 

 This abundant and resident species is seen 

 at all times of the year but is most common 

 in winter. Great extremes in the variety of 

 types are noticeable both in the young in 

 down and the eggs of this species. During 

 one day at the Bog of the Ring, Tullamore, 

 Ireland, by far the largest breeding station in 

 the British Islands, I picked up and handled 

 some hundreds of nestlings, and out of these 

 I kept one almost entirely yellow with hardly 

 a dark patch and another so dark that there 

 was hardly any yellow noticeable. 



271. Common Gull. Laius canus, Linn. 

 A common winter visitor. 



272. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus^ J. F. 



Gmelin. 

 A very common resident which breeds in 

 small numbers on the clifF near Newhaven 

 and at the clifF to the westward of Belle 

 Tout Lighthouse, Eastbourne (Borrer). 



273. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larusfuscus, 



Linn. 

 A few adult lesser black-backs visit the 

 coast of Sussex every spring and remain 

 throughout the summer, whilst in the autumn 

 immatures take their place and occasionally 

 spend the winter with us. It is doubtful 

 whether it breeds nearer to the Sussex coast 

 than the Isle of Wight. 



274. Great Black-backed Gull. Larus 



marinus, Linn. 

 A regular winter visitor in small numbers. 

 These are generally immatures. 



275. Glaucous Gull. Larus ghiiicus, Fabri- 



cius. 

 A rare winter visitor, appearing as a rule 

 after continuous and heavy gales from the 

 north. Although I went regularly to the 

 Orkney Islands for the purpose of shooting 

 this and the next named species I only once 

 was so fortunate as to see and capture speci- 

 mens. This was in the severe winter of 

 1884, and following a week of the severest 

 snowstorms I can remember. 



276. Iceland Gull. Larus leucopterus, Faber. 

 Rarer and more irregular in its appearance 



than the last named species. 



277. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.) 

 The kittiwake is found off the Sussex coast, 



generally at some distance from land, at all 

 seasons, but it is most common in winter. It 

 does not now breed in Sussex. 



278. Ivory Gull. Pagophila ehurnea (Phipps). 

 The late Mr. Knox stated that the ivory 



gull had been obtained twice within the 

 county, and that he had seen a specimen 

 which had been found in a dying state at 

 St. Leonards-on-Sea. Two other examples 

 are supposed to have occurred (Borrer). 



279. Great Skua. Megalestris catarrhactes 



(Linn.) 



A rare winter visitor. In confinement 

 this fine bird makes a very tame and agree- 

 able pet. One that I kept for some time 

 would follow me about like a dog. It was a 

 most voracious feeder and would swallow a 

 squirrel whole without any apparent incon- 

 venience. 



280. Pomatorhine Skua. Ste 



torhinus (Temminck). 

 A scarce and irregular winter visitor. 



281. Richardson's Skua. Stercorarius crepi- 



datus (J. F. Gmelin). 

 A late autumn and winter visitor. I once 

 had a fine view of the migration of this 

 interesting bird whilst passing Cape Finisterre 

 in Spain. As the ship in which I sailed 

 turned northward and towards the English 

 Channel we met large flocks of Richardson's 

 skua flying in a southerly direction. Most 

 of the groups were composed of some twenty 

 individuals, but sometimes there were as 

 many as fifty, the light and dark forms 

 being apparently equally numerous. Now 

 and again I noticed what was apparently a 

 perfectly black bird without any of the 

 golden feathers at the back of the head. 

 The skuas seemed to fly slowly and easily 

 and kept a considerable interval between 

 each member of the parties. Altogether 

 quite eight or nine hundred adult birds of 

 this species passed close to the ship in the 

 space of two hours, and I saw no immatures. 

 This occurred on November 10, 1893. 



282. BufFon's Skua. Stercorarius parasiticus 



(Linn.) 



The late Mr. Borrer records two instances 

 of the occurrence of this, the rarest of the 

 skuas, in Sussex, and also states that Mr. 

 Booth secured several in adult plumage in the 

 spring of 1875. 



283. Razorbill. Alca tarda, Linn. 



The razorbill is very common at some 

 distance from the coast at all seasons of the 

 year. Only a very (ew breed on the Sussex 

 cliffs. 



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