222 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs 



When crossing the Kara Sea in the autumn of 1895, Mr. H. L. Popham observed 

 a Fulmar in lat. 74° 8' N., and long. 77 40' E. The Fulmar does not appear to 

 have been obtained on the northern coasts of Siberia ; but it has long been 

 known to be present in vast numbers in Bering Sea, and especially among the 

 islands of the North Pacific. Thus Stejneger states that the Fulmar is one of 

 the commonest summer visitors to the Commander Isles, while Turner reports 

 that hundreds of thousands of Fulmars, covering acres of water, are to be seen 

 upon the coast of Alaska. The Fulmar breeds in vast numbers on the west coast 

 of Greenland ; two forms of the species are probably present. Mr. Hagerup 

 observes that, on his voyages to and from Greenland, Fulmars were seen daily 

 in greater or less numbers all the way from the Shetland Islands to within a few 

 miles of Greenland. The Fulmar is abundant in Icelandic seas, and breeds in 

 huge numbers on the Westmann Isles in the south, as well as upon Grimsey in 

 the north of Iceland, to say nothing of lesser breeding colonies. In the Faeroes 

 the Fulmar has been established as a breeding species for upwards of sixty years. 



In 1878, the Fulmar became established as a breeding bird upon the Island 

 of Foula; its desire to increase in Shetland seas was further evinced by the dis- 

 covery that no fewer than thirty pairs of Fulmars had nests on the south-westerly 

 face of the Horn of Papa Stour in 1892. Again in 1896, Mr. Godfrey found 

 a small colony of Fulmars, consisting of six birds, on the north face of 

 Calder's Geo, in Eshaness. The Fulmar has been reported from the west 

 coast of Skye, and I happen to have evidence that isolated specimens have 

 occurred in Skye on several occasions ; but though the late Dr. Dewar once 

 shot a Fulmar on the coast of Skye in summer, there was never any ground 

 for poor Gray's erroneous statement that Fulmars bred on a stack near Glen- 

 brittle. The species of Petrel which actually nested on the stack in question, 

 was undoubtedly the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus anglorum). But rarely as the 

 Fulmar is seen inside the Outer Hebrides, it is quite possible that this species is 

 augmenting its colonies on the north-west coast of Scotland. In 1887, for 

 instance, Mr. Harvie-Brown found a number of Fulmars flying along, and 

 alighting upon, the cliffs of North Ronay; while, in 1897, Mr. W. Eagle 

 Clarke discovered several Fulmars in the immediate vicinity of Cape Wrath, 

 under circumstances which pointed to a mainland breeding station. 



The most classical haunt of the Fulmar in Western Europe must be looked 

 for where the grey rain-clouds of the Atlantic roll over the heights which rise in 

 weird and striking outline above the bay at St. Kilda. It is here that the 

 Fulmar has nested in unbroken sequence for many centuries ; here, too, that the 

 pursuit of this fine Petrel has afforded opportunities for the perfection of the art 



