537 



It does not breed on the mainland of Scotland, but only on the islands. Mr. Eobert Gray 

 writes respecting its occurrence there (B. ofW. of Scotl. p. 499) as follows: — "The headquarters 

 of the Fulmar are St. Kilda, Barra, and Soa, from which group of rocks it is but a straggler in 

 the summer season to the Outer Hebrides. It formerly bred in the south isles of Barra, but has 

 now entirely abandoned that locality, none having been seen there in the breeding-season since 

 1844. I was lately informed, however, by Captain Cameron, of Glenbrittle, that he has had the 

 eggs of this species obtained in Skye, where it breeds in at least one locality — a ' stack ' off the 

 farm of Tallisker, halfway between Stack na Maidaidh and Breshal Beg. The nests are in holes 

 in a very steep grassy slope, extremely difficult of access. The country people say there are many 

 more breeding-places of this bird in Skye. The Fulmar would almost appear to have at one time 

 bred in the island of Mull. Pennant, in his account of the species, copies the following para- 

 graph from one of the newspapers of the day, the 'General Advertiser' for June 1761: — 'Isle 

 of Mull. A gentleman of the name of Campbell, being fowling among the rocks, and having 

 mounted a ladder to take some birds out of their holes, was so surprised by one of these species 

 spurting a quantity of oyl in his face that he quitted his hold, fell down, and perished.' On three 

 or four different occasions this bird has been met with in Iona ; and Dr. Dewar has a specimen in 

 his collection which he captured in summer off the coast of Skye : it is also found occasionally 

 on the west side of the Long Island ; but it is worthy of remark that in nearly every case these 

 stragglers from the distant rock referred to are in an emaciated state. On the eastern shores of 

 Scotland the Fulmar ranks only as a straggling winter visitant. In East Lothian it is occasionally 

 found in December or January. I have seen specimens that were cast up dead on the beach 

 near Dunbar. Northwards stray examples have been recorded from Caithness-shire and nearly 

 all the intervening counties. These individuals probably come from breeding-haunts situated in 

 the north-east of Scotland, although I cannot find any mention of such having yet been dis- 

 covered." Dr. Saxby says that it never breeds in Shetland, and only frequents the "haaf." 



In Ireland it is rarer than in England, and only three occurrences are cited by Thompson. 

 It is said to be very common in most parts of Greenland, but is stated not to breed further south 

 than in 69° N. lat. Captain Feilden writes of it (Ibis, 1877, p. 410) "Common in the north 

 water of Baffin's Bay ; and individuals followed our ships until we entered the pack off Cape 

 Sabine. On the 26th June 1876, Lieutenant Parr and I, when travelling on the coast of Grinnel 

 Land (lat. 82° 30' N.), observed one of these birds ; and a few days later Lieutenant Egerton found 

 one dead on the shore some two miles further to the northward. We did not observe this 

 species again till our return to Baffin's Bay in September 1876." Professor Newton writes "it 

 is abundant in many parts of the Icelandic seas, but never enters the bays. Faber says that the 

 chief breeding-places are Grimsey, Latrabjarg, Krisuvikrberg, but especially on the Vestmanneyjar, 

 where they are the commonest of all birds. He also mentions Hafnarberg as a nesting-locality ; 

 but I think he must have been misinformed ; at least I saw or heard nothing of this species 

 there in 1858, though it is very abundant round Eldey. On Grimsay a grey variety, known as 

 ' SmrSur,' is said to occur." In the Faeroes it appears to have become much more common in 

 recent years. Captain Feilden, in his notes on the ornithology of those islands, writes as follows : 

 — " Svabo writes that in his day it was only seen by the fishermen far off the coast. Landt 

 mentions that it is seen between the Shetlands and the Faeroe Islands, and is known only to 



