Jump to content

Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/325

From Wikisource
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE BIRDS OF GREAT YARMOUTH.
297

time, probably nearly all Pomatorhine" (B. of N. vol.iii. p. 350). A large migration in 1879, which Stevenson calls "the great ornithological feature" of that year. Several seen and obtained, Oct. 1881. I found the remains of one on the beach in Nov. 1892. Local, "Shyte-awk," "Boatswain," and "Molberry."

S. crepidatus. Richardson's Skua.—R.R. Messrs. Paget say that "both this, and its young, the Black-toed Gull, have occasionally been shot." Most are immature birds.

S. parasiticus. Buffon's Skua.—R.R. An occasional visitant. Stevenson (B. of N.) records several local examples. A fine male specimen was shot on Breydon in Oct. 1890, which on being placed on the floor of the punt vomited several live earthworms.

Alca torda. Razorbill.—C. Not uncommon in the Roads during the autumnal herring fishery. In my younger rambling days I observed that drowned examples were frequently washed ashore after continuous easterly gales. Of late years it has become comparatively rare, its place being taken by the Guillemot, which then was not so commonly stranded. Local, "Wil-duck."

Uria troile. Common Guillemot.—C. Occasionally abundant in the Roads; also on the herring fishing-grounds. Have known it hooked from the piers by amateur fishermen, by whose baits it has been attracted, and have obtained specimens that have been entangled in the meshes of longshore drift-nets. I have frequently seen dead or exhausted birds toppled ashore during easterly winds. My attempts to rear several have always failed; indeed, healthy birds, incarcerated in aviaries, seldom live for any length of time. I have occasionally met with the ringed or bridled variety. Local, "Wil-duck."

U. grylle. Black Guillemot.—A. Two recorded for Yarmouth (B. of N. vol. iii. p. 280). The first was picked up on the beach at Caister; the second shot in the winter of 1878–9.

Mergulus alle. Little Auk.—N.U. "Occasionally shot in Roads" (Paget). Is looked upon as a mere straggler, although it has been occasionally "struck" by severe gales, when numbers have been washed ashore or blown inland. An unusual fatality occurred in January, 1895. Three hundred and two were recorded for the county. I picked up two or three at the sea-line,

Zool. 4th ser. vol. V., August, 1901
2 a