﻿BuLLER.-r-rO/i 
  a 
  Species 
  o/Lestris. 
  855 
  

  

  cuckoo 
  of 
  ours 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  permanent 
  resident, 
  but 
  migrates 
  every 
  winter 
  to 
  

   the 
  Society 
  Islands. 
  Of 
  this 
  annual 
  migration, 
  across 
  1,500 
  miles 
  of 
  ocean, 
  

   Captain 
  Hutton 
  has 
  well 
  remarked 
  "tliere 
  i? 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  whole 
  world 
  so 
  

   wonderful 
  !" 
  

  

  Art, 
  XLV. 
  — 
  Bemarks 
  on 
  a 
  Species 
  of 
  Lestris, 
  inJiahllinrj 
  our 
  Seas. 
  

   By 
  Walter 
  L. 
  Buller, 
  C.M.G., 
  Sc.D., 
  etc. 
  

   [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Wellington 
  Pliilosophical 
  Society, 
  llth 
  August, 
  1878.] 
  

   I 
  HAVE 
  the 
  pleasure 
  of 
  exhibiting 
  this 
  evening, 
  in 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  remarks 
  

   I 
  am 
  about 
  to 
  offer, 
  the 
  only 
  four 
  known 
  examples 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  Skua 
  yet 
  

   obtained 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand. 
  The 
  first 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  the 
  adult 
  hixd 
  described 
  in 
  

   my 
  " 
  Birds 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand 
  " 
  (p. 
  268), 
  and 
  shot 
  by 
  myself 
  at 
  Horowhenua, 
  

   on 
  April 
  SOfch, 
  18Qi 
  ; 
  the 
  second 
  is 
  Dr. 
  Hector's 
  young 
  specimen, 
  noticed 
  

   by 
  me 
  in 
  the 
  Transactions, 
  Vol. 
  VII., 
  p. 
  225; 
  the 
  third 
  is 
  another 
  young 
  . 
  

   bird, 
  shot 
  in 
  Wellington 
  Harbour 
  in 
  January, 
  1877, 
  and 
  mentioned 
  in 
  my 
  

   paper 
  in 
  last 
  volume 
  of 
  Transactions, 
  p. 
  200 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  fourth, 
  and 
  most 
  

   recent, 
  is 
  a 
  specimen 
  in 
  more 
  mature 
  plumage, 
  for 
  which 
  I 
  am 
  indebted 
  to 
  

   Mr. 
  C. 
  H. 
  Ejbson, 
  who 
  picked 
  it 
  up 
  at 
  the 
  beach 
  at 
  Cape 
  Campbell, 
  in 
  a 
  

   perfectly 
  fresh 
  state, 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  Aveek 
  of 
  November, 
  1877. 
  

  

  In 
  my 
  work 
  I 
  referred 
  the 
  first-named 
  example 
  to 
  Stercorarius 
  parasiticus, 
  

   Linn., 
  and 
  added 
  the 
  following 
  remarks 
  :— 
  " 
  Dr. 
  Finsch, 
  to 
  whom 
  I 
  sub- 
  

   mitted 
  the 
  skin, 
  is 
  of 
  opinion 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  an 
  immature 
  bird 
  ; 
  and 
  Mr. 
  Howard 
  

   Saunders, 
  who 
  has 
  made 
  the 
  Laridce 
  his 
  special 
  study, 
  expresses 
  his 
  convic- 
  

   tion 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  new 
  and 
  hitherto 
  undescribed 
  species. 
  I 
  am 
  rather 
  disposed, 
  

   however, 
  to 
  consider 
  it 
  an 
  aged 
  female 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  known 
  as 
  Buffon's 
  

   Skua, 
  with 
  the 
  plumage 
  much 
  faded 
  and 
  worn, 
  indicating 
  a 
  sick 
  or 
  exhausted 
  

   condition 
  of 
  body. 
  I 
  may 
  add 
  that 
  the 
  two 
  middle 
  tail-feathers 
  are 
  only 
  

   partially 
  developed, 
  being 
  encased 
  in 
  a 
  sheath 
  at 
  the 
  base. 
  They 
  extend 
  

   only 
  about 
  an 
  inch 
  beyond 
  the 
  rest, 
  and 
  are 
  much 
  abraded, 
  having 
  a 
  

   peculiar 
  filamentous 
  appearance." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Howard 
  Saunders, 
  who, 
  as 
  Lord 
  AValden 
  justly 
  says, 
  may 
  be 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  the 
  "first 
  authority" 
  on 
  the 
  family 
  of 
  birds 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  Skua 
  

   belongs, 
  communicated 
  to 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Society 
  on 
  the 
  3rd 
  March, 
  1876, 
  

   a 
  paper 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  StercorariincB 
  or 
  Skua 
  Gulls," 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  deals 
  chiefly 
  

   with 
  the 
  synonymy 
  and 
  geographical 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  members 
  of 
  that 
  group. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  list 
  of 
  synonyms 
  of 
  Stororarius 
  crepidatus 
  (Richardson's 
  Skua) 
  

   Mr. 
  Saunders 
  includes 
  my 
  Stercoyarius 
  parasiiicus, 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   species 
  he 
  observes 
  that 
  he 
  can 
  refer 
  to 
  no 
  other 
  the 
  example 
  recorded, 
  as 
  

   above-mentioned, 
  in 
  my 
  book, 
  adding 
  — 
  "His 
  general 
  description 
  suits 
  S, 
  

  

  