PART III 



McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 



A BOOK which treats of AdeUe penguins scarcely 

 can be complete without reference to the beautiful 

 McCormick's skua gull {Megalestris maccormicki), 

 as probably no Addlie rookery exists without its 

 attendant band of skuas, who build their own nests 

 very close to and occasionally among those of the 

 penguins on whom they prey, almost entirely 

 supporting themselves and their young upon the 

 eggs and young offspring of their hosts. 



Mention has been made of these birds from time 

 to time through the previous pages, and some idea 

 of their habits already will have been formed. In 

 point of fearlessness they fall somewhat short of 

 the Adelie, but exhibit, perhaps, rather more 

 caution in their dealings with man than the gulls 

 who visit St. James's Park in London and are fed 

 by the children there, frequently from the hand, 

 though probably in a very few days they might 

 become extremely tame were their short experience 

 of mankind made less bitter. The majority of 



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