SKUA GULL. 
505 
NA TA TORES. 
LARI DJI. 
SKUA GULL, 
BONXIE. 
Lestris CATARRACTES. 
PLATE CXLTL 
Shetland alone, amongst the British Islands, is the 
resort of these birds during the breeding-season. They 
are there even in small numbers, and confined to three 
very limited localities, to which they return yearly. On 
the island of Unst, the property of Mr. Edmonston, I 
saw only three pairs, which he informed me had been 
the number for a length of time; here they had chosen 
the summit of the island, and seem particularly partial 
to high ground — a trait characteristic of the genus. 
Bonas Hill, the highest on the islands, is another place 
of their choice ; and although here they rear their young 
ones on the low ground at the base of the mountain, yet 
they may constantly be seen soaring eagle-like over its 
misty top. This remote and solitary spot had been the 
undisturbed resort of numbers, until visited the year 
previous to our being there by a man of the name of 
Dunn, a bird-stuffer of Hull, who, devoid of the feelings 
of a naturalist or admiration of the birds themselves, 
or decent regard for those of the kind and hospitable 
people by whom he was entertained, and upon whose 
property he was allowed unrestricted liberty to roam, 
