830 BBITISH BIBDS 



Great black-headed gull {L. icJithyaetus). — A single specimen of 

 this southern species was obtained many years ago in this country. 



Little gull (L. minutus). — An irregular visitor from continental 

 Europe. 



Sabine's gull {Xema sabinii). — A rare straggler from North 

 America. 



Common or Great Skua. 



Stercorarius catarrhactes. 





ff/./j.. 



Fia. 111.— Great Skua. ^ natural size. 



Upper parts mottled brown ; shafts of the quills and tail-feathers 

 white; imder parts rufous-brown; bill, legs, and feet black. 

 Length, twenty-five inches. 



Of skuas there are but six species, two of which inhabit the 

 southern hemisphere, and breed on the confines of the antarctic 

 regions. The others belong to the northern half of the globe, and 

 range in summer to the arctic regions. These four are all claimed 

 as members of the British avifauna, but only two species need be fully 

 described in this work. The skuas are gull-like birds, very strong 

 on the wing, and swift flyers ; and, like the gulls, they have a variety 

 of feeding-habits, and are both the vultures and hawks of the sea. 



