76 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



unhurt, Mr. Stanley and I dug u\>, by the aid of the dog, a well-grown and nearly- 

 fledged voung bird (supposed to be of ^Idjaqiicus inquiitoctialis), as large as an 

 ordinary ilomestic fowl. A pair of skuas being near at hand, watching our proceed- 

 ings, I threw the young bii-d up into the air, so that it flew some distance and alighted 

 perhaj)s two hundred yards away from us. One of the skuas immediately flew up to 

 it, and killed it by re)ieated blows upon the head with its beak ; the other remaining 

 at some distance, on guard, as I at first thought, but, as afterward apjjeared, afraid of 

 its mate, for, while we stood watching the fii-st skua eating its capture (nearly as large 

 as itself), the other approached by degrees, uttering short, ]>laintive ehiri)s, but not 

 darin"- to share in the meal. When, after a few minutes, we drove them off, the 

 abdomen of the petrel had been torn open and its entrails partly devoured. As a 

 general rule, its habits are terrestrial, and on the few occasions when, prob.ably after 

 poor success in hunting, I have seen it alight in the water, it has held its wings up 

 perpendicularly, like a butterfly, as if afraid of wetting them. At the pairing season, 

 this trick of holding up the wings becomes quite a prominent characteristic. Two 

 ■will alight upon a knoll, quite near together, holding their wings jierpendicularly in 

 the air, and set up a vociferous cackling. The note is louil, harsh, and hoarse, sugges- 

 tive of the cry of the gull. The nest is a shallow cavity in the long grass (7* t«<«c«), 

 lined sparingly with grass stems, and always in a dry spot. The old birds make it very 

 lively for the egg-hunter, attacking him on ojiposite sides with great vigor and deter- 

 mination, and keeping up an outcry that is really aj)palling. Seeing a skua fly by 

 the house one day, apparently going somewhere in a great hurry, I snatched up a re- 

 volver (no gun being at liand) ami followed him. lie was going to join the female on 

 her nest, as 1 suspected, and when I apj)roached both attacked me as usual. I suc- 

 ceeded in killing the male, but emptied the revolver at the female without success, 

 and was ke])t standing for certainly twenty minutes, pelting tiie enraged bird with 

 stones as she swooped down at my head, with the two eggs in plain sight, but not dar- 

 ing to jnck them up." 



The members of the genus Stercorarius are arctic and sub-arctic, being of smaller 

 size than the foregoing, ami characterized by having the middle pair of tail feathei-s 

 protruding considerably beyoiul the others. The Pomarine jieger {S. pomarimis) is 

 of a somewhat rare occurrence, but is easily distinguished by the middle tail feathers, 

 which are obtuse at the end, having the portion beyond the others twisted so that the 

 webs stand nearly vertical instead of lying flat. The long-tailed jieger {S. longi- 

 caudus) is another northern species, characterized by its enormously elongated and 

 pointed central tail feathers, and its blue tarsus. It is more an inland bird, often in- 

 liabiting moors and swam])s in the mountains, and to a great extent feeding upon 

 field-mice and Icnunings. The Ix'st-known si)ecies is the so-called Richardson's jieger, 

 known among fishermen and sailors as the ' boatswain,' 'teaser,' ' dung-hunter,' etc., 

 the first name referring to the pointed central tail feather.s as ' marling-s])ikes,' tlic office 

 emblem, so to speak, of the boatswain ; the third one alluding to the belief, which at 

 one time even was shared by the men of science, that these birds feed on the dung of 

 gulls and terns, while the second name fitly illustrates one of the remarkable habits 

 of these birds, to be mentioned below, and which has secured for it its scientific name 

 aS'. parasiticus. Though written more than fifty years ago, William Macgillivr.ay's 

 sjnrited account of the habits of this bird is still unsurjiassed, so we may be e.\cused for 

 reprinting it here : " The sea-birds are on wing, wheeling and hovering all around, 

 vociferous ia their enjoyment, their screams mingling into one harsh noise, not less 



