482 " LARID.E. 



claws large, strong, very much curved. Tail slightly rounded, the two middle 

 feathers generally elongated, sometimes considerably. Wings moderate, the 

 first quill-feather the longest. 



The various species of the genus Lestris have long been 

 separated by naturalists from the true Gulls, from a just 

 appreciation of the differences in their external characters, and 

 also in their habits. The Skuas may be considered as form- 

 ing a conspicuous portion of the predaceous division among 

 the swimming birds, as indicated by their powerful and hook- 

 ed beak and claws. Their food is fish, but they devour also 

 the smaller water birds and their eggs, the flesh of whales, as 

 well as other carrion, and are observed to tear their prey to 

 pieces, while holding it under their crooked talons. 



Many of the true Gulls are listless and timid ; the Com- 

 mon Skua and Its generic companions are, on the contrary, 

 courageous and daring, harassing the smaller Gulls perpetu- 

 ally. They rarely take the trouble to fish for themselves, 

 but, watching the Gulls while thus employed, they no sooner 

 observe one to have been successful than they immediately 

 give chase, pursuing it with fury ; and, obliging it from fright 

 to disgorge the recently-swallowed fish, they descend after it 

 to catch it, and are frequently so rapid and certain in their 

 raovements and aim as to seize their prize before it reaches 

 the water. It is on this account these birds have been called 

 Parasitic Gulls, because they are supported by the labours of 

 others. John Barrow, Esq., in the description of his voyage 

 to Iceland, mentions the amusement afforded to the party in 

 the yacht, when watching the Brown Gulls chasing the White 

 Gulls. 



The various species of Lestris are inhabitants of the most 

 Northern regions, rarely going farther south in Europe, even 

 in winter, than the line of our southern shore. The Com- 

 mon Skua, however, has a much wider range, and, besides 

 inhabiting Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and Iceland, has been 

 found in the Southern Hemisphere, in the Straits of Magellan, 



