xxxviii YORKSHIRE— VERTEBRATE FAUNA. 



The Cuneate-tailed Gull — of which not half-a-dozen specimens 

 are known to exist — is specially interesting from its extreme rarity; 

 and although there is a discrepancy of dates in the two versions 

 published at the time of the occurrence, there is no ground for 

 doubting its genuineness. 



Amongst the species which have occurred in Yorkshire of 

 which very few British examples are known, may be cited the 

 Rock-Thrush, Orphean Warbler, AVhite-spotted Bluethroat, Tawny 

 Pipit, Pine-Grosbeak, White-w4nged Crossbill, Red-winged Starling, 

 Eagle Owl, Greenland and Iceland Falcons, Swallow-tailed Kite, 

 American Bittern, Red-breasted Goose, PoHsh Swan, Ruddy 

 Sheldrake, Buffel-headed Duck, King Eider, Steller's Duck, 

 Barbary Partridge, Andalusian Hemipode, Yellowshank, Broad- 

 billed Sandpiper, Gull-billed Tern, and White-winged Black Tern. 



Treating of Yorkshire birds generally, it may be remarked that 

 many resident birds are to a greater or less extent migratory, 

 shifting their quarters from one locality to another according to 

 the season, as for example the Curlew, which breeds on the high 

 moors in the summer and retires to the shores during the winter, 

 while the Thrush and Pied Wagtail remain through that season in 

 much reduced numbers. With some species, as the Long-eared 

 Owl, Kestrel, and Reed-Bunting, it is very possible that the 

 individuals found in summer migrate southwards for the winter, 

 and are replaced by others from localities still further north. 

 Such a circumstance, however, would not in the least militate 

 against the claim of the species to be considered as resident. 



On the other hand, there are species — true winter visitants, 

 though ranked in some county lists as residents — of which a few are 

 found in the district throughout the year, but they cannot be 

 regarded as 'residents' in the true sense of the term, for the 

 individuals remaining through the summer are immature and non- 

 breeding birds. These remarks are applicable to (amongst other 

 species) the Turnstone (of which about a score remain at Spurn 

 throughout the summer), the Dunlin, Common Scoter, Common 

 and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and Red-throated Diver, all of 

 which are to be found in more or less numbers on or off the 

 coast at all seasons. The fact of individuals remaining in this 



