36 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



As its name implies, the Parasitic Jaeger is a 

 robber and lives largely on what it can take by 

 force from its smaller brethren. It is large, and 

 very strong and swift in flight, and the Eskimos 

 call it " the cannibal '' because, they say, once 

 upon a time it killed and devoured men. It is 

 much swifter and quicker than the Pomarine 

 species, which it attacks and drives away, but it 

 is less graceful on the wing. According to Ed- 

 ward W. Nelson, these birds bully and rob the 

 Gulls and Terns, forcing them tn disg(.irge fish 

 which they have caught, and swooping below 



them snatch the food as it falls, very much 

 in the manner of the Bald Eagle robbing the 

 Fish Hawk. 



These Jaegers often hunt in pairs and will then 

 attack and rob even the Glaucous-winged Gull, 

 which could make short work of its tormentors if 

 it could only get at them. " P)Ut the parasites 

 are too adroit, too elusive, and too desperately 

 persistent," says Mr. Dawson. " The Gull hates 

 to do it, but also he hates to be buffeted and 

 hustled away from the fishing-grounds. ' Here, 

 take it, you scum, and be off with you I ' " 



LONG-TAILED JAEGER 



Stercorarius longicaudus I'ieillut 



A. O. V. Number 38 See Color IMate 4 



Other Names. — Arctic Jaeger; Gull-teaser. 



General Description. — Length. 23 inclies. Color 

 above, deep purplisli-slate ; below, white deepening into 

 slate. During breeding season, crowns have slight 

 crests. This is a smaller bird than the Parasitic Jaeger, 

 the greater length being due to the c.vti-cuicly lotig tail- 

 feathers. 



Color. — Adults in Breeding Pi.um-\ge: Lores and 

 side of head above eye to nape, brownish-black; neck all 

 around light straw-yellow ; above with wing and tail- 

 coverts, deep purplish-slate, deepening on primaries, 

 secondaries, outside tail-feathers, and ends of central 

 pair into lustrous broivnish-black : chin, throat, and 

 upper breast, white gradually shading into the dark 

 slate of abdomen and under tail-coverts ; bill, dusky with 



black tip ; feet, grayish-blue ; toes, webs, and claws, 

 black; iris, brown. Imm.-vture: Changes of plumage 

 identical with those of previous species. D.\rk Phase: 

 Very rare. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Depression in the ground, 

 scantily lined with dry grass and leaves. Eggs: 2 or 3, 

 (lark greenish, thickly spotted and blotched with brown. 



Distribution. — Northern part of northern hemi- 

 spliere ; breeds on Arctic islands of Europe and Asia, 

 and coasts of Kotzebue and Norton sounds, northern 

 Mackenzie and northern Hudson Bay to northern 

 Greenland ; winters south to Gibraltar and Japan ; in 

 migration not rare of? New England coast ; casual on 

 the Pacific coast south to California; accidental in 

 Manitoba, Iowa, Illinois, and Florida. 



Nelson describes the T-ong-tailed Jaeger as 

 " the most elegant of the Jaegers in its general 

 make-up, and especially when on the wing. At 

 this time, the bird shows all the grace and ease 

 of movement which characterize such birds as 

 the Swallow-tailed Kite, and other species with 

 very long wings and slender bodies. It appears 

 to delight in exhibiting its agility, and two or 

 more frequentl}' perform strange gyrations and 

 evolutions during their flight as they pass back 

 and forth over the low, flat country which they 

 frequent. It is, like the Parasitic Jaeger, found 

 more plentifully along the low portions of the 



coast th;in at sea, and is very numerous along the 

 coast of Norton Sound." 



Like the other members of the genus, this 

 Jaeger is a persistent and merciless robber of the 

 smaller Gulls, swooping down on them and forc- 

 ing them to disgorge fish or mollusks they have 

 taken, and capturing the food as it falls. Flocks 

 of Kittiwakes are likely to be accompanied by 

 one or more of these Jaegers industriously en- 

 gaged in this brigandism. 



The species may be readily identified by the 

 marked elongation of the central tail-feathers. 



George GL.^DDEN. 



