BIRDS 
and brought to me the same evening. It was 
a large bird, for the alar expanse exceeded 
five feet by half an inch. It is preserved in 
the Carlisle Museum. 
236. Iceland Gull. Larus leucopterus, Faber. 
Though a rare winter visitant to our coast- 
line, this arctic bird appears to visit this county 
somewhat more frequently than the glaucous 
gull. The Carlisle Museum contains an im- 
mature bird shot near Millom, January 28th, 
1882. George Dawson of Carlisle showed 
me a newly-mounted bird (the legs being still 
soft), which he assured me that he had shot 
in a field near Carlisle, February 28th, 1898. 
This was immature, as was a third seen near 
Maryport by Mr. R. Mann, February roth, 
1899. When observed it was crossing a 
rough meadow in company with a number of 
other gulls. The first specimen that I know 
to have been procured upon our borders was 
shot on the Solway Firth opposite to Brow- 
houses, February 8th, 1835. 
237. Kittiwake. Russa tridactyla (Linn.). 
A common winter visitant, present with 
us during almost every month, but most 
numerously represented during the colder 
months when it haunts our fields inland. I 
have seen odd birds in summer ; where rocky 
escarpments present a shelter on the Solway 
Firth the kittiwake might perhaps breed with 
us, but I never found it doing so on the Sand- 
with cliffs. 
238. Great Skua. 
(Linn.). 
An exceedingly rare bird on the west coast 
of England. The late Mr. T. C. Heysham 
recorded a specimen which was captured alive 
on the Rockliffe Marsh, April 27th, 1833, 
and taken to him on the following day. It 
was secured while engaged in killing a herring- 
gull (Phil. Mag., 1834, p. 339). Other 
examples have been reported to me, but I 
never examined a fresh individual during my 
residence in Lakeland. 
Megalestris catarrhactes 
239. Pomatorhine Skua. Stercorarius pomato- 
rhinus (Temminck). 
This skua occurs on the coast of Cumber- 
land with tolerable frequency—not annually, 
for several years often elapse between its visit- 
ations—but still four specimens entered my 
possession between 1884 and 1898. The 
first of these was a bird in the second or third 
winter, killed near Bowness-on-Solway by 
George Holmes, October 24th, 1884. A 
fine adult was shot by Sam Wright on the 
edge of the Carlisle racecourse, December 
2and, 1894. On October 28th, 1898, I 
received from R. Broatch, of Rigg Foot, a 
bird in the brown dress of immaturity, with 
the information that he had shot it whilst it 
was feeding ona seagull. A few days later 
I received from the same wildfowler a second 
specimen, shot in the same part of the Solway 
Firth as the first. The foregoing birds are 
preserved in the Carlisle Museum. Others 
have been obtained as stragglers all round the 
coast, from Drigg to Rockliffe. 
240. Richardson’s Skua. 
datus (Gmelin). 
Locally, Black-Gull, Sea- Hawk, Bo’sun’s Mate. 
An irregular visitant to the waters of the 
Solway Firth, occasionally met with in the 
interior of the county. The dark form is 
that which has generally come under my 
notice locally ; but a bird of probably the 
second year, shot at Beckfoot, October 4th, 
1890, belonged to the light form. Skuas are 
not infrequently seen on the Solway Firth in 
May and October ; but a few appear in July 
and August, and from that time on to Christ- 
mas. 
Stercorarius crepi- 
241. Long-tailed or Buffon’s Skua.  Ster- 
corarius parasiticus (Linn.). 
A rare visitant, chiefly met with during the 
autumn. In 1885, an adult in lovely plumage 
frequented the Eden near Kirkandrews early 
in June, but was shot on the 3rd of that 
month, and presented to me by Dr. John 
Macdougall, whose generosity enabled me to 
examine it in the flesh. I found it to be 
a male by dissection. It is preserved in the 
Carlisle Museum. Birds in various stages of 
plumage have been obtained at different points 
of the coast. The most remarkable visitation 
of this skua occurred in October, 1891, when 
I examined about ten freshly-killed specimens 
obtained along the west coast from Walney 
Island to Kirkbride, and as far inland as the 
borders of Westmorland. None of these 
were in the plumage of the first year ; but 
very juvenile specimens have also come under 
my notice. Birds in the plumage of the first 
autumn were procured at Kirkoswald, No- 
vember 5th, 1890; at Skirwith, October 
16th, 1891; and near Maryport, October 
11th, 1895. 
242. Razorbill. Aka torda, Linn. 
The razorbill nested recently on the cliffs 
at Sandwith, and probably still does so; in 
August, 1894, a very small but feathered 
nestling was washed up at Allonby in a 
fresh condition. Birds of the year frequently 
perish in heavy gales, as do a lesser number 
of adults. 
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