32 
LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS—Order Longipennes 
SKUAS AND JAGERS—Family Stercorariide 
SKUA 
35. Megalestris skua. 22 inches. 
These large birds are the most powerful and audacious 
pirates among the sea fowl of northern waters. Their 
whole form is indicative of strength; form robust, feet 
strong, and bill large, powerful and hooked. Their 
plumage is of a nearly uniform blackish-brown, with 
white shafts to the wing feathers and a white patch 
at the base of the primaries. 
Nest.—They do not nest in large colonies, only a sin- 
ele or a few pairs breeding in the same locality. Their 
nests are hollows in the ground, a short distance back 
from the rocky shores. The two eggs that they lay are 
olive brown, spotted with blackish (2.75 x 1.80). 
Range.—North Atlantic coasts, chiefly on the Old 
World side, breeding from the Shetland Islands and 
possibly Greenland, northwards. They are only rarely 
found on our coasts even in winter, but have been taken 
as far south as New York. 
