9 
POM ATO R in XE SKUA. 
usual custom), two being fine-plumaged adults, wliite-breasted with long tails. Several were clouded on the 
breast and appeared dark ; but I could not positively identify a black adult with long tail-feathers. On the 28th, 
while out watching the small boats from North Berwick, long-lining for baddies, several Pomatorhines were 
flying round in comj)any with Arctic Skuas, and a specimen or two were obtained. These birds were all in a 
state of plumage which is apparently the last stage before assuming the mature dress, and none exhibited the 
elongated tail-feathers, though it is probable that these had been lost. Some long strings of Pomatorhines were 
noticed on the 29th, flying west. After a heavy gale on the 1st, the weather moderated on th(? 2nd of Septemher, 
audit was again possible to get to sea; Pomatorhines were observed at a distance, but no great numbers showed 
themselves. Some fine adults seen on the 5th ; on the 8th Arctic Skuas were in numbers pursuing the 
Kittiwakes among the islands, principally between Eidra and the Lamb. A few Pomatorhines were also recognized, 
b ut they sailed quietly past without heeding the throngs of Gulls below them. The 14th and 18th squally, a few 
seen outside ; 21st and 22nd, blowing a gale from the south-west, both Pomatorhine and Arctic were driven 
along the coast ; they were, however, by no means exhausted, being well able to continue their course. Eor 
several days Arctic Skuas were observed, though no Pomatorhines put in an appearance. Blowing a terrible 
gale from the south-west on October the 2nd and 3rd ; numbers of Gulls and Skuas were off in the Bay, but 
it was too stormy to put to sea, and the drift and haze prevented the glasses being of any service. Weather 
moderated on the 7th; several Skuas seen in the Eirth, outside the islands, a few being evidently Pomatorhine ; 
and still more passed the boat on the 8th, all flying in an easterly direction, high in the air and straight out 
to sea. 
During October and early in November large parties of Pomatorhine Skuas are usually to be found keeping 
company with the fleet of herring-boats as they work up the coast, procuring their food by attacks on the 
Gulls congregated round the nets. The numbers that approach the land vary considerably ; in fine weather 
but few are seen, though a gale of wind while they arc off the coast at times drives hundreds along the shore, 
many being met with worn out, starved, and utterly helpless, from the effects of continued rough weather. 
The appearance of this species after the protracted October gales in 1879 was referred to by several observers 
as an extraordinary migration, the writers evidently being unaware of the multitudes annually passing over 
the North Sea, harbouring for a time round our fleets of smacks and luggers and gradually passing south. It 
occasionally happens that, should the wind continue light, the main bodies keep a line from forty to 
sixty miles off the east coast. When but few are met with round the larger English boats, I have repeatedly 
heard of them, and on one occasion observed far greater numbers, resorting to the Erench craft : many of these 
are vessels of considerable tonnage, carrying heavy crews, and their fish being in some instances cleaned before 
stowage. Gulls in countless thousands are in attendance, procuring an abundant supply of food for the 
ravenous Skuas. 
In the autumn of 1872 the weather was not sufficiently rough during October to affect the Skuas; the 
greater number having passed southerly before the November gales, but few were noticed this season near the 
land. A short account extracted from my notes will give an idea of the numbers seen off the east coast during 
October and November. 
October. — A few Pomatorhine Skuas in the first plumage were met with on the 7th (fresh breeze south-east) 
about twenty miles off Yarmouth. Thousands of Lessor Black-backed Gulls, Gannets, and Divers were on the 
water, between twenty and thirty miles off the land, the Gulls being in large bodies of several hundred in a flock. 
Two or three Skuas were sitting hero and there ; occasionally they would rise on wing and chase any of the 
smaller Gulls that approached, though for the most part they remained as quiet and contented as their 
neighbours. Their food is evidently procured while the nets are hauled at dawn and during the first hours of 
daylight, after which they rest and digest their meal, moving occasionally, if put up by a passing boat, with a 
slow and lazy flight, a short distance over the waves. On the 8th, though the boats nearest the sands had plenty 
