A. C. CHAPMAN I BIRDS OF NORTHUMBERLAND COAST. 43 



normal colour of the legs and feet is in this bird ; some are quite 

 black, others are patched on the tarsus and sometimes even on the 

 webs of the feet with a pale blue colour. I have killed a bird with 

 one leg nearly all black, and the other having the blue colour 

 predominating, and the same remark applies to Buffon's Skua 

 {Stercorarius parasiticus), shot in June at their breeding stations in 

 Lapland. Richardson's Skuas are generally to be seen in pairs at 

 this season, and they frequently exhibit a strange boldness by flying 

 straight at you, which generally leads to their being shot. The Terns 

 rejoice at the death of their persecutor, and a score or more may be 

 seen hovering and screaming over the body of a Skua floating dead 

 on the water. As before remarked, the Skuas take their departure 

 before the winter sets in. 



Those species of Laridae which breed on the Fame Islands are 

 naturally found frequenting the sands and slakes of the Northumber- 

 land coast in large numbers during the month of August, but there 

 can be no doubt that the majority of these birds migrate south- 

 wards in autumn, their place being taken by more northern 

 arrivals. Common Gulls {Larus canus) make their appearance towards 

 the end of August, and they are perhaps the most numerous of the 

 gull tribe during winter. Though the Merganser {Mergus serrator) 

 breeds commonly in Scotland, and often on the same loch with 

 Common Gulls, yet they, together with the Divers ( Colymbus arcticus 

 and C. septentrionalis), do not arrive on this coast till well on in the 

 autumn. In August the Lesser Black-backed Gull {Larus fuscus) is 

 the most common species on the coast, and its changes of plumage 

 still admit of further investigation. The young of the previous year 

 are at this season in perfect feather ; they have already completed 

 the summer moult, but are still a pale, mottled, brownish-grey colour, 

 with flesh-coloured legs and feet, and a dark-brown eye. The young 

 of the year, which are also in excellent feather at this season, are 

 much darker brown than the year-old birds, which, it would appear, 

 do not attain the mature (winter) plumage till the autumn of the third 

 year after they are hatched, after which time they will doubtless breed. 

 Black-headed Gulls {Larus ridibundus) also, come to the coast during 

 August, and they may often be found sitting far out on the level fields 

 of sand, where they perform the autumn moult unmolested. One has 

 only to walk over the places whence the flock has just decamped, 

 to find how they are employed at this season — usually the sand is 

 strewn with their feathers. They remain the winter on the coast, and 

 often associate with Common Gulls and Kittiwakes {Rissa iridactyla). 



Three species of Tern are found, all tolerably common, in August, 

 viz., the Sandwich {Sterna cantiaca), Arctic {S. macrura), and Common 



Feb, 1886. 



