THE PARASITIC JAEGER. 709 
marvelously swift and cruelly graceful, the little corsairs hurry to and fro 
to observe which of their fisher-friends has made a catch, and to make instant 
requisition for it. It may even be a Glaucous Gull that has just swallowed 
a herring, and 1f detected in the act the Gull moves off screaming, while the 
little bully darts at him repeatedly, and prods and browbeats him until he is 
glad to disgorge for the sake of being rid of his persecutor. 
The Kittiwake Gull is the acknowledged thrall of this rapacious viking, 
and if his eggs or callow young escape the devouring beak, it is only that they 
may henceforth share the spoils of the sea with their merciless master. Bullies 
are also cowards, and it pleases us to learn that this larger species stands in 
awe of its lesser kinsmen, the Parasitic, and the Long-tailed Jaeger, and that it 
has to submit to a drubbing now and then at the hands of one or another of 
these peppery assailants. 
Jaegers follow their victims southward in the fall, but the Pomarine is 
everywhere less common than the other species in western waters, and it 
seldom comes so far as the Straits of Juan de Fuca, altho it has been taken 
on the coast of California. 
No. 288. 
PARASITIC. JAEGER. 
A. O. U. No. 37. Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.). 
Synonym.—RICHARDSON’S JAEGER. 
Description.—QOuite similar to preceding species in general appearance of 
plumage and in color phases; smaller; the central pair of tail-feathers elongated 
about three inches beyond others and tapering; light phase not so dark as in S. 
pomarinus,—fuscous rather than dusky, thruout, except top of head and lores, 
which are blackish. Length 15.00-21.00 (381-533.4), av. 17.00 (431.8); wing 
13.00 (330.2); tail 7.50 (190.5); bill 1.20 (30.5); tarsus 1.80 (45.7 
Recognition Marks.—Crow size, but appearing larger; marks much as in 
preceding species, but central pair of tail-feathers sharply pointed, produced about 
three inches beyond others (not nearly so long as in the Long-tailed Jaeger, S. 
longicaudus ). 
Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. Nest: on the ground. Eggs: 2 or 
3, “olive-drab to green-gray and brown, marked with several shades of chocolate 
brown, and an obscure stone-gray, distributed over the entire egg.” Av. size, 
PEO RT OS (58:44 1-0)) 
General Range.—Northern part of northern hemisphere, southward in win- 
ter to South Africa and South America. Breeds in high northern districts, and 
winters from New York and California southward to Brazil. 
Range in Washington.—Common spring and fall migrant on Puget Sound 
and West Coast. 
