MCCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 



seen to have two holes picked through their backs, 

 one on each side, corresponding to the position 

 of each kidney. 



Besides the penguins' eggs and young, there is 

 another fruitful source of food for the Skuas to be 

 found along the Antarctic coasts at the early part 

 of the year, and that is during the time when the 

 seals are bringing forth their young upon the sea- 

 ice. The Skuas attend upon them then, and devour 

 the after-births. In the second volume of the 

 Z>iscove?^y reports Dr. Wilson mentions that 

 large numbers of Skuas were noticed at Granite 

 Harbour, and I have no doubt that they had 

 congregated there for this purpose, as when passing 

 the spot on a spring journey along the sea-ice in 

 1912, we saw many hundreds of Weddell seals with 

 their young. So many were there, that as we lay 

 in our sleeping-bags during the night, the bleating 

 of the little calves near our tents conveyed to our 

 half-awakened senses the impression that we were 

 in the midst of lambing fields at home ! 



The soft parts are coloured as follows : 

 JBilly black. 

 Iris, dark brown. 



Legs, toes, and webhs, black, excepting a patch of 

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