THE ZooLocist—NovemBrr, 1875. 470] 
which Moyview is situated. On both days the skuas, after keeping 
along the course of the tidal part of the river for about two miles, 
directed their flight right across the country to the south-west. 
I had an excellent opportunity for observing those that passed 
on the 22nd, and have little hesitation in considering the greater 
part, if not all, to have been pomarines: the first flock of ten or 
twelve birds were undoubtedly of that species, their great size and 
clumsy-looking tails clearly pointing them out as such, and all 
exhibiting white underneath, and long tails prove them to have 
been adults. 
When seen during flight the pomarine skua’s tail presents a very 
clumsy, awkward appearance, in contrast to the elegantly pointed 
tails of the smaller skuas: this is caused by the two elongated tail- 
feathers being bluntly rounded at the ends and dwisted for nearly 
half their length at almost right angles to the plane of the short 
tail-feathers, so that when a side view of the bird is taken the full 
_breadth of the long tail-feathers is shown, giving the tail that thick 
clumsy appearance which so easily identifies the pomarine skua on 
the wing. Very few dark-coloured or immature birds were seen on 
either day—probably not one to ten of the white-bellied ones. 
I could not be quite certain as to which species the birds seen 
on the second day belonged, as they passed at too great a distance 
for me to judge of their size and appearance ; but as the first day’s 
flight was undoubtedly made up of pomarines, we may safely infer 
that the second day’s was a continuance of the first, and therefore 
was of the same species. 
I may add an extract from a most interesting letter of Mr. J. C. 
Niligan, of Tralee, read before the Dublin Natural History Society 
in March, 1863, describing his meeting with a large flight of skuas 
in Tralee Harbour on the 25th of October,—just two days after the 
last of the skuas left this on the 23rd,—and I think satisfactorily 
proving that the skuas after leaving this bay and crossing the 
island continued their flight along the coast to Tralee Harbour, 
where they took shelter while the stormy weather lasted. He 
says :— During the first fortnight of October, 1862, we experienced 
very heavy gales. on the coast of Kerry. On the 24th of October 
the wind, which had been west and west-south-west, went round to 
north, shifting occasionally to north-north-west and north-west. 
My brother mentioned to me that he had observed a gull flying 
over the beach of the north side of the harbour, with the appearance 
SECOND SERIES—VOL. X. 3K 
