396 
LABIDiE. 
perfectly fresh state floating in Dungarvan Bay, on the Water- 
ford coast : — it was kindly sent to Dublin for my inspection. At 
the time it was met with, that gentleman observed some skuas in 
pursuit of gulls outside the Bay of Dungarvan, but the exact 
species could not be told. Mr. R. Chute informed me in Fe- 
bruary 1846, that he had “ got a fine old Richardson's skua 
(light straw-coloured one described by Yarrell) shot in Tralee Bay 
in the winter of 1845 ; also a young bird (a black-toed gull) shot 
by a gentleman when grouse-shooting on the 20th of August last.” 
On the 19th of September, 1846, a young bird of the year, 
slightly wounded near Bangor, Belfast Bay, came into the posses- 
sion of Dr. J. D. Marshall, with whom it became at once familiar. 
It was a very attractive pet-bird, perching on his arm, and 
looking up to his face, in the most engaging manner, with its fine 
beaming hazel eye. It took great pleasure in the application of 
the hand to its plumage. It was fed wholly on fish, which were 
freely partaken of, and on their being let drop from a little 
height, would be seized before they reached the ground. The 
cause of its death was unknown : it appeared in the highest 
health the day before. A bird of this species, shot in Belfast 
Bay on the 20th of September, 1850, is in what I should con- 
sider the plumage of the second year. Its legs and toes with 
webs are wholly black. The two longest tail-feathers exceed 
the next in length by an inch, and suddenly taper to a point, 
being nearly an inch broad where they pass the others, though 
quite pointed at the extremity. Mr. R. J. Montgomery informs 
me that a very observant man in the Coast Guard Service has 
seen Richardson's skua in the bays of Dundalk and Drogheda, as 
well as on the west coast, and that he described the birds in a 
manner not to be mistaken. He once obtained their nest on a 
small rocky islet off Achil, where he was stationed for several 
years. This statement connected with L. Bichardsonii is good, 
as it is the only one of the four species at all likely to breed 
there ; — it and L. catarrhactes are the only two known to nidify 
in the British Islands, and the latter, as already mentioned, is 
confined to the Shetlands. Richardson's skua breeds in a 
