77 



LONG-TAILED or BUFFON'S SKUA. 



LESTRIS PARASITICUS (Linn.). 



Larus parasiticus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 226 (1766). 

 Lestris crepidata, Naum. x. p. 534. 

 Lestris parasitica, Macg. v. p. 503. 

 Lestris buffonii, Heivitson, ii. p. 508. 



Stercorarius parasiticus, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 680; Dresser, 

 viii. p. 481. 



Labbe a longe queue, French ; Schmarotzer-Raubmove , 

 German. 



This species is an irregular, and not a very common, 

 autumnal visitor to our shores, and occasionally strag- 

 gles to considerable distances inland. As T have no 

 personal acquaintance with this Skua in life, I quote 

 briefly from the most recent English authorities with 

 regard to its haunts and habits. The breeding-range 

 of Buffon's Skua is said to be confined to the arctic 

 regions of both hemispheres. Mr. H. Saunders informs 

 us that a few pairs nest on the Dovrefjeld in 62-^° 

 N. lat., and Wolley and Wheelwright found it breeding 

 in considerable numbers far inland on the fells of 

 Swedish Lapland. Seebohm met with it on the tundras 

 of Siberia, but remarks that he did not observe it on 

 migration in the valley of the Petchora. The last- 



