PLOVERS, GULLS, AND AUKS 85 



BuFFON'S Skua (Plate XVI. fig. 5), or the ** Long-tailed Skua," 

 as it is often called, from the great length of the middle tail-feathers, 

 is found the whole way round the northern hemisphere, though it 

 does not occur in any great abundance in Great Britain. On the 

 east side of England, however, it is not infrequently met with. Over 

 the Arctic regions of America it enjoys a wide range. 



Altogether four species of Skua are to be found in Great Britain ; 

 but of these, the largest and finest species, the Great Skua, is well- 

 nigh extinct, so far as these islands are concerned. 



THE AUKS 



The Auks — or, in other words, the Guillemots^ Razor-bills, and 

 PufBns — are among the most interesting of living birds ; for there 

 can be no doubt but that they are descended from some Plover-like 

 ancestor, and that their present peculiarities of shape and structure 

 were slowly acquired, in proportion as they became more and more 

 aquatic, until, to-day, they have assumed a close resemblance to 

 the far more ancient birds of the Order Pygopodes (p. 36). As divers, 

 and in the skill they display in the capture of fish, which they chase 

 for considerable distances under water, these birds have no rivals. 

 They are never met with in fresh water, but frequent rocky coasts, 

 where they live in enormous colonies. 



The Guillemot (Plate II. fig. 5), the Razor-bill (fig. 9), the Little 

 Auk (fig. 4), and the Puffin (fig. 3) are all British birds, though the 

 Little Auk is only occasionally met with along our coasts. The 

 Guillemot and the Razor-bill breed on the ledges of cliffs, laying, on 

 the bare rock, but a single egg. The Puffin, on the other hand, chooses 

 a burrow, seizing, as a rule, upon one dug either by a rabbit or a 

 Petrel, and driving out the rightful occupants by the aid of its powerful 

 beak. How they have dispossessed the Manx Shearwater we have 

 already told on p. 38. 



