434 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



under the control of a good sportsman and a fairly good ornithologist, 

 and one of the best known public men in the district. Consequently 

 the Gulls were allowed to rest in peace. After the shooting season the 

 same gentleman informed me that at the particular part of the moor 

 where the Gulls had nested they had made the best " bag " of Grouse, 

 and better tban in any past season on that part of the moor ; and that 

 he had remarked upon this fact to his keeper at the time. Unfortu- 

 nately he would not permit me to make known the full data for fear 

 that it might " only be a coincidence." Although I do not wish to 

 infer that the increased " bag " was in any way due to the Gulls, it is 

 quite clear that their presence on this particular spot had not been of 

 disadvantage to the Grouse. Referring to the insinuations of certain 

 gamekeepers — it is much more likely to be the work of Rooks, Crows, 

 or Jackdaws, and probably of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, which latter 

 now pay regular visits in small parties, or in honeymoon pairs, to this 

 district at just about the laying-time of the Grouse. With the average 

 gamekeeper a Gull is a Gull, just as a Hawk is a Haivk (even if it should 

 prove to be a Cuckoo when shot). So far as I can see, the Black- 

 headed Gull is essentially a farmer's friend, and a scavenger in this 

 district. Almost any day during the spring and summer a few of 

 them may be seen "fishing" on the River Aire below Shipley, and 

 after the admission of the Bradford Beck (now almost a main sewer), 

 and where the water is almost inky-black, and nothing but a Rat can 

 live in it. 



In the above I have only spoken for the Black-headed Gull in this 

 district (where it is a summer visitor, arriving early in March and 

 leaving at the end of September or early in October), where it has 

 largely increased as the result of the construction of numerous sewage- 

 beds along the Aire Valley. No doubt in districts where large gulleries 

 are strictly preserved, and where no check is placed upon their increase, 

 the birds will have to alter their food in order to meet the increased 

 demand ; but even under such trying circumstances I should be much 

 surprised to learn that this species had taken to egg-stealing. — Haery 

 B. Booth (Shipley, Yorks). 



Pomatorhine Skua at Yarmouth. — On October 23rd an immature 

 example of the Pomatorhine Skua (Stercorarius pomatorhimis) was shown 

 me in the flesh, and which had a few days before been captured by 

 the crew of a fishing-lugger, among whose nets it had come to grief. 

 The under parts were white, with a beautifully speckled gorget, very 

 much resembling a Sanderling in the nuptial plumage. Some bars on 

 the back were edged with fawn colour. Unfortunately the bird was 



