THE PERSECUTION OF THE GREAT SKUA 11 



not more than one, or perhaps two pairs, had nested this year in 

 Sandoe. On the i4th July I found a young Great Skua, half tame, 

 in the village of Skaapen, in the island of Sandoe, which had been 

 taken from the nest about a fortnight previously. I secured it, and 

 sent it to Herr Milller in Thorshavn, for transmission to the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens in Copenhagen. Sysselmand Winther of Sandoe 

 was of opinion that this young bird represented the whole of the 

 progeny of the species that had been hatched out this year in 

 Sandoe. On the 25th July, I and my companion, Mr. Folmer 

 Hansen of Copenhagen, found a healthy young Skua in captivity in 

 the village of Saxen, which devoured small trout of six inches long 

 without tearing them in pieces. The owner did not care to part with 

 the bird. It had been brought from a spot in the neighbourhood 

 called Eggen, where four pairs had bred. The same day we found 

 in the kitchen of Mr. Jan David Olsen of Saxen two young Skuas 

 which had been killed on Eggen in the morning. They were cooked 

 as part of our supper, and Mr. Hansen and I ate them. On ex- 

 pressing to our host regret that these fine birds should be put to such 

 ignoble use, and that we should have much preferred to see them 

 alive, our kind host, without mentioning the matter to us, despatched 

 the following day one of his shepherds to the fells. At nightfall the 

 man returned with a single young bird. This we hoped to send also 

 to Copenhagen, but unfortunately later on one of its legs got broken, 

 and it died. In Bordoe we had no time to visit the spot where 

 formerly a thriving colony existed, but we were informed that, if not 

 exterminated altogether, certainly not more than one or two pairs 

 nested there this year. I did not get any exact particulars about the 

 colonies formerly existing in the north isles of Viderce and Svinoe, 

 which twenty years ago consisted of five and seven pairs respectively, 

 but I was led to believe that if not exterminated there they were 

 reduced to one or two breeding pairs. The ultimate extinction of 

 the Great Skua as a breeding species in the Fasroes cannot be long 

 delayed, as the slight protection given to the bird by the owners of 

 the localities where it still breeds is entirely for the sake of the 

 young as an addition to their food supply. 



Thus we have the declared testimony of the highest 

 authorities, based upon personal observation and experience, 

 that unless some measure of protection is immediately 

 afforded to the Great Skua, this fine bird must soon cease to 

 exist in Europe. Should this be so, history will in all 

 probability repeat itself, and then, like the Great Auk, which 

 in its distribution it so closely resembles, the Great Skua 

 will be hunted clown to supply " the ruthless trade in its 

 eggs and skins " in its north-western haunts. 



