﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  219 
  

  

  stage 
  of 
  plumage, 
  we 
  bought 
  the 
  bird 
  ; 
  date 
  of 
  occurrence, 
  6th 
  May 
  

   1892. 
  

  

  Rissa 
  tridactyla 
  (L.). 
  Kittiwake. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  Kittiwakes 
  are 
  not 
  very 
  

   abundant, 
  the 
  suitable 
  breeding 
  area 
  being 
  restricted 
  to 
  the 
  clifts 
  

   of 
  Gamrie, 
  Troup, 
  and 
  the 
  coast 
  on 
  to 
  Pennan. 
  Edward 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  

   ' 
  Breeds 
  with 
  us, 
  but 
  not 
  in 
  such 
  numbers 
  as 
  formerly.' 
  It 
  is 
  often 
  

   seen 
  along 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  Sutherlandshire, 
  most 
  abundantly 
  in 
  

   the 
  spring. 
  

  

  Pagophila 
  eburnea 
  (Phipps). 
  Ivory 
  Gull. 
  

  

  Edward 
  mentions 
  that 
  several 
  have 
  been 
  shot 
  near 
  Gamrie. 
  1 
  

  

  One 
  is 
  recorded 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  shot 
  on 
  the 
  29th 
  January 
  1847 
  

   whilst 
  sitting 
  on 
  a 
  rock 
  about 
  four 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  Banff 
  (Zoologist, 
  

   1847, 
  p. 
  1700) 
  by 
  Rev. 
  James 
  Smith. 
  

  

  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  observed 
  an 
  Ivory 
  Gull 
  frequenting 
  the 
  sand- 
  

   hills 
  and 
  shore 
  near 
  the 
  north-east 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Culbins, 
  about 
  the 
  

   third 
  week 
  in 
  June 
  1888, 
  associating 
  with 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  other 
  

   species 
  of 
  Gulls, 
  and 
  apparently 
  acting 
  as 
  their 
  sentinel. 
  In 
  ;i 
  

   later 
  communication 
  he 
  wrote, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  25th 
  June 
  1888, 
  

   that 
  he 
  saw 
  a 
  fine 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  Ivory 
  Gull 
  along 
  with 
  the 
  

   Common 
  and 
  1 
  Yellow-footed 
  Gulls,' 
  and 
  he 
  adds 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Robert 
  

   Mackessack 
  has 
  several 
  times 
  seen 
  the 
  species 
  there, 
  but 
  usually 
  

   in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  the 
  year. 
  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  includes 
  the 
  Ivory 
  Gull 
  in 
  

   his 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Momy, 
  but 
  without 
  remark. 
  

  

  Sub-family 
  STERCORA 
  RIINsE. 
  

   [Stercorarius 
  catarrhactes 
  (Z.). 
  Common 
  Skua. 
  

  

  Of 
  this 
  and 
  of 
  Richardson's 
  Skua, 
  Edward 
  has 
  the 
  remark 
  :- 
  Both 
  

   are 
  met 
  with 
  as 
  visitors— 
  the 
  latter 
  the 
  rarer 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  ! 
  ' 
  [The 
  

   italics 
  and 
  the 
  interjection 
  are 
  ours. 
  'Surely,' 
  we 
  think, 
  'there 
  

   must 
  be 
  some 
  mistake.'] 
  

  

  Stercorarius 
  pomatorhinus 
  (Tcmm.). 
  Pomatorhine 
  Skua. 
  

  

  Four 
  Pomatorhine 
  Skuas 
  were 
  seen 
  at 
  Balnacoil, 
  Sutherland, 
  in 
  1879 
  

   (Fauna 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  p. 
  235). 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  

   1 
  Gamrie 
  has 
  a 
  high 
  precipitous 
  coast. 
  

  

  