676 ARCTIC OR Richardson's skua. 



There are two very distinct varieties of the Arctic Skua, the one 

 being entirely sooty, while the other has light under parts ; but the 

 latter pairs with whole-coloured birds as well as with those like itself, 

 the dark-coloured birds also mating. The extreme and inter- 

 mediate forms are found nesting on our northern islands, the Fseroes, 

 Iceland, the coasts of Scandinavia, Russia, and probably Novaya 

 Zemlya ; but the sooty bird has not been observed on Spitsbergen, 

 and all the specimens from the far north of America are white- 

 breasted ; which looks as if the dark variety was sub-arctic. At 

 all events, this >form predominates in the south, whereas the white- 

 breasted race increases in numbers to the northward until it attains to 

 the ascendency ; in America again, below the Arctic circle, both are 

 met with. As a breeding species this Skua may be broadly described 

 as sub-arctic and circumpolar ; in the cold season it frequents the 

 coasts of Europe, Africa down to the Cape of Good Hope, the 

 Persian Gulf and vicinity, the North Pacific, and the Atlantic as far 

 south as Rio de Janeiro, while it has occurred several times in New 

 Zealand. 



The eggs, 2 in number, are laid in a hollow of the moorland 

 moss ; they are of an olive-green colour, blotched with dark brown, 

 and measure about 2 "3 by i"6 in. The flight of this Skua is rapid, 

 although somewhat devious ; and any intrusion upon the breeding- 

 ground is resented by swoops — directed from behind or sideways, for 

 although the bird will actually strike with its wing, I have never seen 

 it make a front-attack. The cry is a plaintive wtv, sometimes a sharp 

 mee-dioh. This species feeds principally upon fish, obtained by 

 robbing the smaller Gulls, but it also preys upon wounded or dis- 

 abled birds, is said to plunder the eggs of other sea-fowl, and has 

 been known to pick up worms and molluscs. It does not dive, but 

 has frequently been observed to settle on the water. 



The lowest figure is that of an adult — but not very mature — ex- 

 ample of the intermediate form ; in many, as already observed, 

 the throat and breast are white, and not shaded with brown. The 

 middle bird may be said to belong to the dark race, though more 

 sooty individuals are to be met with. Between the above there is 

 every gradation ; but all have a yellow tinge on the acuminate 

 feathers of the cheeks and neck, and are umber-brown on the upper 

 parts. Length 20 in., wing 1375. The young bird (at the top) I 

 consider to be the offspring of light-coloured parents ; the progeny 

 of a dark pair is much more sooty, with merely rufous edges to the 

 upper feathers. 



