FULMAK 567 



become a necessity " (' Birds of Fair Isle,' Ann. Scot. Nat. 

 Hist., 1906, p. 80). 



Geographical distribution. Beyond our Isles the Fulmar 

 breeds plentifully on the Faroes, in Iceland, and in several 

 other Islands of Arctic and Sub-arctic Europe, Asia, Canada, 

 and Greenland. In winter it migrates as far south as about 

 lat. 40 N., frequenting both the European and American sea- 

 board of the North Atlantic. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Head, neck, breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts, pure white, or shaded with 

 grey ; flanks washed with pale blue-grey or shaded with 

 grey ; back, scapulars, wings, and tail, light bluish-grey ; 

 primaries, dusky greyish-blue. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage. 



Adult winter, male and female. Similar to the nuptial 

 plumage. 



Immature, male and female. 1 Kesembles the adult 

 plumage. 



BEAK. Yellow towards the tip, lighter on the sides, dark 

 towards the base ; nasal-tubes, greenish-yellow. 



FEET. Greyish-brown ; outer toes, darker. 



IRIDES. Dark hazel-brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH 19 in. 



WING 13-25 



BEAK 2 



TARSO-METATABSUS 2 ,, 



EGG ... 2-9 X 1*9 in. 



Allied Species and Representative Forms. There appear 

 to be two races of the Fulmar, one in which the head, neck, 



1 According to Dr. Wiglesworth, the Fulmar in first plumage differs 

 from the adult in having the general hue of the back and upper parts of 

 the wings of a uniform bluish-grey, whereas in the adult many of the 

 wing-coverts are shaded on their outer webs with light brown, which 

 produces an irregularly shaped pattern on the wing, conspicuous in 

 flight. 



