STERCORARIHXE THE SKUAS AND JAEGERS. 215 



Nelson mentions it as follows : "From the description of a bird 

 seen with a flock of gulls near Evanston, 111., by F. L. Rice of 

 that place, and the account of a strange gull occasionally seen 

 by a sportsman who does considerable shooting on Lake Michi- 

 gan, I am certain this species is a rare visitant during severe 

 winters." 



The general habits of this species have been mentioned under 

 the Family Sterc&rariidce, on page 211; but the following notes 

 by Mr. William Dutcher, on observations* made by him on the 

 coast of Long Island are worth quoting: ''From three to ten in- 

 dividuals could be seen any day at the fishing grounds, flying 

 around among the Terns, chasing them about and compelling 

 them to drop their fish. Every day on the 'slack' of the tides, when 

 the bluefishbait seemed to be more abundant than at other times, 

 the Terns would go over in crowds from Great Gull to the 'Race' 

 to fish, and though no Jaegers could be seen in the air before 

 the arrival of the Terns, no sooner would the latter begin to 

 fish than the Jaegers would gather around to pursue their regu- 

 lar business of robbery. As soon as a Jaeger would spy a Tern 

 with a fish in its bill, off it would start in pursuit, and dodge 

 and dart as the Tern would, the Jaeger was always right in 

 its track, pressing it closer and closer, until despairing of ever 

 eluding its pursuer, the poor Tern would drop the fish, which 

 would be caught by the Jaeger before it reached the water. 

 Although the Terns were swift and graceful flyers, they were no 

 match for their larger and more powerful enemies, who, when 

 not engaged in pursuing the Terns, might sometimes be seen 

 resting singly or in flocks of four or five on the surface of the 

 water. 



"Chas. B. Field informed me that the Jaegers, or 'Hawks', 

 arrived about the same time as the bluefish, and stayed as long 

 as the bluefish were there, but that he never saw them in winter. 



"When I arrived at Little Gull both Jaegers and Shearwaters 

 were very tame indeed, not seemius: to pay the least attention 

 to us when we went out among them after bluefish; in fact, I 

 was told that a bird of one of these species had, a short time 

 before, been knocked down with an oar. But after we had shot 



* The Au k, April, 1889, pp. 1115-126. The observations in question refer both to this 

 species and the Parasitic Jaeger. 



