298 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



account. Foula is about three miles long and two broad, and 

 its highest point is the Sneug, 1372 feet. The highest cliff is the 

 Kame, 1220 ft. There is an excellent 6-in.-to-the-mile Ordnance 

 map of Foula. There are about 200 inhabitants, The old 

 houses are all thatched ; five or six modern ones are slated and 

 have chimneys. 



The island is not only bleak and exposed, but subject to 

 sudden squalls of exceptional violence from the steep face of the 

 storm-swept Sneug, the home of the Great Skua, towards which 

 we went. Ascending the steepest face of Hamnafeld (1126 ft.), 

 over the little village of Ham, we went very slowly, botanizing all 

 the way, and now and then looking round for birds. A single plant 

 of Listera cordata was noticed, and towards the summit Salix her- 

 bacea occurred plentifully. Just then the first pair of Great Skuas 

 appeared circling over the hillside at a height of about twenty 

 yards. It was at once noticed that one bird was darker than the 

 other. They were passing somewhat below us, and as they flew 

 past the difference in the colour of the backs of the two birds was 

 very evident. Soon three or four other pairs were seen, some- 

 times sitting on the soft mossy slope, side by side, or flying to 

 and fro over certain parts of the hill. The northern face of the 

 Sneug and of the two ridges which run to the east and west of it 

 is very steep, with rocks and boulders and stones occasionally 

 cropping out. The vegetation is short and closely cropped by 

 sheep. The southern face has a gradual descent, and the surface 

 is undulating, turfy and soft, consisting of moss, Juncus squar- 

 rosus, Eriophorum angustifolium, with straggling roots of Calluna 

 and Vaccinium uliginosum. With one or two exceptions the Great 

 Skuas all breed on the southern face. The nest is merely a 

 depression on the surface. They seem to scratch a little at first, 

 and then smooth the place with their breasts. In one or two 

 cases some withered leaves of Eriophorum were round the edge, 

 apparently broken off because they were in the way. Having 

 heard and read so much about the boldness of the Great Skua in 

 attacking intruders during the breeding season, there was at first 

 some disappointment at their apparent want of courage. There 

 were no eggs or young in any of the four or five nests ; this 

 might account for it. Away down the slope, about half a mile 

 away, Richardson's Skuas were seen, and a nest found with 

 two eggs. 



