I04 ALLEN S NATURALISTS LIERARY. 



feet. As I approached the spot where the Snipe's eggs lay, 1 

 noticed those birds on a knoll just beyond, but had paid no 

 attention ; but as the birds kept leaving me to hover over the 

 knoll and then return to the attack, I examined the spot, and 

 there, in a cup- shaped depression in the moss, lay two dark 

 greenish eggs marked with an abundance of spots. During 

 the breeding season these birds and the preceding species have 

 a cunning habit of tolling one away from their nests by dragging 

 themselves along the ground and feigning the greatest suffering. 

 They roll among the tussocks, beat their wings, stagger from 

 side to side, and seem to be unable to fly, but they manage to 

 increase the distance from their starting point at a very respect- 

 able rate, and ere long suddenly launch forth on the wing. 



" After a successful hunt, the Jaegers of this and the last 

 species alight upon some prominent knoll and sun themselves, 

 their white breasts showing for a long distance. They are very 

 curious at times, and I have called them within gunshot on 

 several occasions by tossing some conspicuous object into the 

 air as the birds were passing. On one occasion I saw a Jaeger 

 swoop down at a Duck paddling quietly on the surface of a 

 pond, and the latter went flapping away in mortal terror, w^hile 

 the Jaeger passed on, probably highly pleased at giving the 

 Duck such a fright. 



" Their taste is omnivorous, and they harry the marshes for 

 Mice and Lemmings, and feast upon the dead fish and other 

 animal matter cast up by the sea, or search the hillsides for 

 berries. The arrival of a vessel in their neighbourhood calls 

 them about to secure the offal thrown overboard. The Eskimo 

 say that they eat just what men like, hence the name given 

 them, derived from the word 'yuk,* or ' man.' 



" The swiftness and dexterity with w^iich they pursue Gulls 

 and force them to disgorge is a beautiful sight to witness ; and 

 while either of the small Terns or Gulls can drive the Jaeger 

 from the vicinity of their nest, the latter robs them of their 

 prey at pleasure. While I was camping at the Yukon mouth a pair 

 of these birds made their haunt in the vicinity of my tent and fed 

 upon the offal thrown upon the ice a few yards from the door. 

 They soon became very familiar, and were always on hand, 

 hovering close overhead when we came in from a hunt. They 

 would stand about within a few yards and watch us with wistful 



