94 THE BIRD WATCHER 
territory, which, whilggyencircled on all sides by that 
of the lesser one, is not intermingled with it, even on 
the frontiers. Many of the young birds are still 
about, but being now feathered and active in propor- 
tion to their size, they are more difficult to find than 
when I was here before. Though the old birds still 
swoop at one, they are not so savage as they were 
when the chicks were young and fluffy ; they do not 
actually strike, but swerve off, particularly if one 
glances up at them as they approach. The Arctic 
skua, on the other hand, is still as bold as ever, and 
will strike one as repeatedly and come as near to 
knocking one’s hat off without doing it (not near at 
all, that is to say) as ever it did before ; or the great 
one either, I might add, as far as my own personal 
experience is concerned. 1 would not, however, be 
unduly sceptical, and this I can say, that I could easily 
set my hat on my head so that either bird—or any 
bird—might knock it off again. 
