North American Birds Eggs. 



23 



LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS. Order II. LONGIPENNES. 

 SKUA AND J/EGERS. Family STERCORARIID/E. 



Skuas and Jsegers are birds having a Gull or Tern-like form and with a hook- 

 ed bill, the base of which is covered with a scaly shield. They have webbed 

 feet and are able to swina and dive, but they commonly get their living by prey- 

 ing upon the Gulls and Terns, overtaking them by their superior speed and by 

 their strength and ferocity forcing them to relinquish their food. The Jtegers 

 especially are one of the swiftest and most graceful birds that Hy. 



35. Skua. Mr(j(ihstris slyua. 



Kange.— Coasts and islands of the Xorth Atlantic, chieHy on the European 

 side ; rare on the Atlantic coast of North America. 



Skuas are large (22 in- 

 ches in length) and very 

 powerfully liuilt birds, 

 having the general form of 

 a Gull. Their whole plum- 

 age is a dingy brownish 

 black color, palest below. 

 Breeds in Iceland and pos- 

 sibly on some of the islands 

 in Hudson Strait. The 

 nest is a hollow on the 

 ground in the marsh grass 

 and is lined with grass. 

 The two eggs which they 

 lay have an olive greenish 

 ground, spotted with dark 

 brown. Size 2.75 x !.!)(). 

 Data. -Iceland,JuneiJ, 1900. 

 Two eggs. Nest a pile of 

 grass and moss on an 

 island. 



36. Pomarine Jaeger. Strrrnrariiift pnmnriiui.^. 



[Olive bruwn.i 







Range. — Northern Hemisphere, 

 breeding within the Arctic Circle, 

 more commonly in the Old World. 



In the breeding plumage, this 

 Jfeger has the crown and face bhick- 

 ish ; back and sides of head, throat 

 and under parts pure white, except 

 the pointed stiffened feathers of the 

 neck which are yellow. Back, 

 wings and tail blackish, 

 the latter with the two middle 

 feathers lengthened about four 

 inches beyond the lest of the tail, 

 and broad to their tips, which 

 are twisted so that the feathers are 



[Deep olive brown 



