BUFFON'S SKUA. FULMAR. 265 



SPECIES 255 BUFFON'S SKUA. 



Lestris parasiticus. Jardine. 

 Stercoraire parasite ou labbe. Temin. 



THIS elegant and graceful species, in the full plumage of the 

 adult, is one of the most beautiful of its family, and, occurring 

 in a greater proportion than any of the preceding, it has often 

 passed under the observation of the ornithologist. All equally 

 commissioned by nature for plunder, they are regarded with 

 fear by their weaker brethren : a peaceful fleet of merchant- 

 men could not" see with greater dread the approach of some 

 long, dark, piratical craft, than a flock of terns or gulls, when 

 the dark wing of this feathered pirate glances through them 

 and compels them to surrender their booty. 



An immature bird in the author's collection, described some 

 twenty-two years since in the Dublin Penny Journal as an 

 unknown species, is only a variety, and was shot by Mr. 

 Massey, of the Pigeon House, near the wall running out to 

 sea. The remains of an adult bird, found inland after a storm, 

 had also come under our notice. 



Habitat Northern Europe. 



GENUS CXIII PROCELLARIA (FULMAR). 



SPECIES 256 THE FULMAR. 



Procellaria glacialis. Linn. 

 Petrel fulmar. Temm. 



THE FULMAR, which we might designate as a strong, com- 

 pactly built gull, with the peculiar petrel-like form of the 

 nostrils, is of extreme rarity in its occurrence in our Fauna, 

 three specimens being recorded as having occurred.* One of 

 these, which we had the pleasure of examining with Mr. 

 Glennon in a recent state, had been shot at the North Strand, 

 bordering upon Dublin Bay ; it was in the adult plumage of 

 the male, and is at present preserved in the collection of Mr. 

 T. W. Warren of this city. 



Frequenting and breeding in the islands of Arctic Europe, 

 "it is well known to the whalers as a constant attendant on 

 the stricken whale, feeding voraciously on the carcases after 

 the flensing operations have terminated."! 



Habitat Northern Europe. 



* Thompson. t Jardine. 



