Iceland Gull (Larus leucopterus).—This pale-coloured gull is occasionally seen in the parish. I have identified a specimen shot by Mr John Matheson.
Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla).—This graceful gull is common on our coasts. It breeds in great numbers at the Shiant Isles, on ledges of high rocks above the sea. On my visit to these islands a shot was fired, when a vast crowd of birds filled the air, and there were innumerable cries of "kittiwake, kittiwake," pronounced as distinctly as if spoken by the human voice.
Great Skua (Stercorarius catarrhactes).—The great, or common skua is rarely seen in Gairloch, but may be occasionally observed attending on parties of gulls, whom it robs of the fish they catch.
Arctic, or Richardson's Skua (Stercorarius crepidatus).—This skua occasionally occurs in Gairloch, but is not abundant. One stormy day in late autumn I observed several about the head of Loch Ewe.
Manx Shearwater (Puffinus anglorum).—Mr O. H. Mackenzie has occasionally seen this bird on Gairloch waters.
Storm Petrel (Procellaria pelagica).—This tiny sea bird, which makes its home on the ocean waves, is seldom seen in Gairloch. I have observed a small party at the mouth of Loch Ewe. They used to breed on the islands of Longa and Foura, at the extremities of long burrows in grassy slopes, and probably do so still. A specimen was recently brought to me which had been found dead on the roadside between Gairloch and Poolewe. It was in stormy weather.
Razor-bill, or Auk (Alca torda).—This bird is seen in Gairloch and Loch Ewe often along with the guillemots and puffins, and I think it is more abundant than either. It nests in the Shiant Isles, and, like the common guillemot, lays its single egg on ledges on the face of cliffs. Mr Harvie Brown saw a very few pairs in a crevice on the east shore of Priest Island, on 4th July 1884.
Guillemot (Uria troile).—This sea bird frequents the coast of Gairloch. It has no breeding station within the parish. The nearest is at the Shiant Isles, twenty miles away, where a large number of guillemots deposit their single eggs, all of exquisite colouring and marking, but no two the same, on ledges in the face of a high cliff.
Ringed Guillemot (Uria lachrymans).—It is now settled that this is a dimorphic form of the guillemot, and not a different species. I have obtained mature specimens with the ring or bridle only partially developed, and there is no doubt it is a marking which occasionally occurs in the common guillemot, and is not distinctive.
Black Guillemot (Uria grylle).—This beautiful bird is common, and has many nesting-places in Gairloch, on rocky islands in the sea, and sometimes on rocks on the mainland overhanging the sea. In winter the plumage of the black guillemot changes to a speckled grey colour. Mr Harvie Brown says that he has in his collection male specimens in speckled plumage taken off the eggs in the Badcall islands. Neither Mr O. H. Mackenzie nor I have noticed the speckled plumage in breeding birds. The young have the plumage yet more speckled than the mature winter dress.