224 STERCORARIID^. 



3. Scarborough. W. Rooke, Esq. [P.]. 



3. Flamborough (Hargitt Coll.). Seebohm Coll. 



3. Flamborough (H. Seebohm]. Seebohm Coll. 



9. Lundy Island, Bristol Channel, Saunders Coll. 



June. 



L Stappen, Norway, 17th June. Seebohm Coll. 



6. Svserholt, Finmark, 16th June. Seebohm Coll. 



Eissa brevirostris (Bruch). 

 (Plate XVII. fig. 3.) 



Larus brevirostris, Elliott, Rep. Prybiloff Isl., Birds, no. 553 (1873) ; id. 



Man. Seal Islands, Alaska, p. 133 (1882). 

 Kissa brevirostris, Baird, Brewer fy Ridf/w. Water Birds N. Am. ii. p. 207 



(1884); Saunders, Cat. Birds B.' M. xxv. p. 312 (1896) j Sharpe, 



Hand-l. i. p. 143 (1899). 



The five eggs of the Eed-legged Kittiwake in the Collection are 

 quite inseparable from many of the pale or cream-coloured eggs of 

 R. rissa. They measure from 2' 16 to 2'32 in length, and from 

 1-5 to 1-63 in breadth. 



1. Aleutian Islands (Smiths. Inst.). Saunders Coll. 



1. St. George's Island, Bering Sea, Salvin-Godman Coll. 



24th June (Henshaw Coll.). 

 3. St. George's Island, June (//. W. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Elliott : Henshaw Coll.). 



Family STERCORAKIIDJE. 



Genus MEGALESTRIS, Bp. 

 Megalestris catarrhactes (Linn.). 



Lestris catarrhactes, Thien. Fortpflanz. ges. Vog. tab. Ixxxvi. n>. 1 , a-d 

 (1845-54) ; Hewitson, Eggs of Brit. Birds, \\. p. 505, pi. clxii. (1856). 



Catarracta skua, Baedeker, Eier Eur. Vog. tab. 64. fig. 4 (1855-63). 



Stercorarius catarrhactes, Dresser, Birds Eur. viii, p. 457 (1875) ; See- 

 bohm, Brit. Birds, iii. p. 346, pi. 55 (1885) ; id. Eggs of Brit. Birds, 

 p. 118, pi. 37. figs. 3, 4 (1896). 



Megalestris skua, Baird, Brewer & Ridgw. Water Birds N. Am. ii. p. 328 

 (1884). 



Megalestris catarrhactes, Savnders, Cat. Birds B. M. xxv. p. 315 (1896) ; 

 Sharpe, Hand-l. i. p. 143 (1899). 



The eggs of the Great Skua are for the most part somewhat elon- 

 gated pointed ovals, but a few are broad ovals and others elliptical. 

 They vary considerably in coloration. A small proportion are of a 

 pale bluish white, obsoletely marked with some underlying pale purple 

 blotches. In the majority the ground is greyish buff, yellowish grey 

 olive-buff and olive-brown. The markings consist of spots and 

 blotches, and while in some eggs they are evenly distributed over the 

 shell, in others they show a tendency to collect at the large end. The 



