238 BIRDS. 



On this Skua Mr. Millais writes us : " An occasional 

 autumn visitor in October. One was chasing a Kittiwake in 

 the harbour of Stromness, and in its excitement dashed up 

 against one of the lamps on the pier, and stunned itself. It 

 was picked up by a boy and given to Mr. James Sutherland, 

 who gave it to a tourist. The Pomatorhine Skua bred, or was 

 supposed to have bred, in Hoy, along with Richardson's Skua, up 

 to about 1860, but after that it does not appear to have been 

 there. Mr. Begg tells me he recollected the species well." l 



We have italicised the above words ourselves, and for our 

 reasons we refer our readers to page 151 of A Fauna of the Outer 

 Hebrides, where it is stated that the Pomatorhine Skua in fully 

 adult plumage occurs not uncommonly on the west coast there, 

 but does not breed. 



Stercorarius crepidatus (Banks). Richardson's Skua. 

 Ore. = Scoutie-allan. 



Low remarks that this is a common bird during the summer, but 

 he never saw the nest, from which we may conclude that it did 

 not breed on the Mainland, or at least not commonly, in his 

 day. 



Dunn, in his Guide, gives the holm of Eddy (Eday) as the 

 principal breeding-ground of this species in Orkney, but, from 

 what we could learn, none breed there now. Curiously enough, 

 Dunn makes no mention of their breeding in Hoy. 2 In 1831 

 Salmon took a nest of Richardson's Skua in Hoy, as stated in 

 his Diary. 



In a letter dated October 7th, 1840, Sheppard wrote Heys- 

 ham that this species was then very common in the neighbour- 

 hood of Stromness, and that he had shot many there. 



Dr. J. F. M'Conaghy informed Mr. Spence that a specimen 

 of this bird was shot in Sanday in 1881. The Doctor adds : 

 "Regarding this bird David Lennie, birdstuffer, Sanday, who 

 has a wide and. accurate knowledge of Orkney birds, tells me 



1 See under Buffon's Skua. Mr. Begg seems to have confused his birds. 



2 Unless indirectly, vide p. 63 of his Guide. 



