EICHAEDSON'S SKUA. 



LESTRIS RICHARDSONI, Swainson. 



Lestris richardsoni, Stv ainson, Faun. Bor.-Am. p. 433 (1831) ; 



Macg. v. p. 49.2 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 509. 

 Lestris parasitica, Naum. x. p. 506. 



Stercorarius crepidatns, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 674; Dresser, viii. 

 p. 471. 



Labbe parasite, French; Schmarotzer-Raubmove, German ; 

 Cdgalo, Spanish. 



As I have no personal acquaintance with this species 

 in the British Islands, ray friend Colonel Irby has been 

 good enough to write the following remarks from his 

 own experience for my benefit and that of my readers : — 



" About thirty or forty pairs of Richardson's Skua 

 breed on one of the Inner Hebrides, where they arrive 

 during the end of May and are not seen after the 20th 

 of August. 



" Their nesting district is limited to a flat area of 

 wettish ground covered with small tussocks of grass, 

 moss, and stunted heather, but the nests, or rather spots 

 upon which the eggs are laid, are dry. 



" We found the first egg on the 2nd of June. 



" They have a well-known habit of stooping close to 



