244 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



The solitary exception is the Common Skua, 

 a species which always keeps well out to 

 sea. The two most frequent visitors to the bay 

 are the Pomarine Skua and Richardson's Skua. 

 Rough weather drives these birds off the fishing- 

 grounds in the open Channel and they seek 

 refuge in the various bays along the coast. They 

 then at times appear here in considerable flocks, 

 and may be watched chasing the Gulls to and 

 fro in k raptore-like way, compelling them 

 to disgorge the fish they have captured, which 

 are generally seized before reaching the water. 

 In fine open weather these Skuas keep well off 

 the land, but when they are migrating in spring 

 and autumn they are often reported to us by 

 the fishermen. Buffon's Skua is by far the 

 rarest of the three, and, like the Waxwing, 

 occasionally visits the seas round the south coast 

 in exceptional numbers. The autumn of 1891 

 was specially remarkable for the visitation of 

 this Skua, but although numbers were observed 

 near Plymouth we neither saw nor heard of an 

 example being obtained in Tor Bay or its 

 immediate vicinity. In spring and autumn the 

 Terns pass along well off the coast, but a 



