COMMON SNIPE. 283 



RANGE OF EGG COLOURATION AND MEASUREMENT : 

 The eggs of the Common Snipe are four in number, and 

 pyriform in shape. They vary from buff of various 

 shades to olive of various shades in ground colour, 

 handsomely and boldly blotched and spotted with rich 

 dark brown, occasionally streaked with blackish-brown, 

 and with numerous large and small underlying mark- 

 ings of pale brown and gray. As is usual, the larger 

 end of the egg is most richly marked, and the spots not 

 un frequently form a zone round it. Average measure- 

 ment, r6 inch in length, by ri inch in breadth. 

 Incubation, performed by the female, lasts from sixteen 

 to twenty days. 



DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS: The size, shape, and 

 handsome appearance of the eggs of the Snipe readily 

 distinguish them from those of any allied species breed- 

 ing in our islands. 



Family STERCORARIID^E. Genus STERCORARIUS. 



RICHARDSON'S SKUA. 



STERCORARIUS RICHARDSONI (Swainson}. 



Single Brooded. Laying season, latter end of May and early 



June. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA: Richardson's Skua is 

 another of our local species, breeding sparingly in 

 Caithness and Sutherlandshire, on the Hebrides, and 

 more commonly on the Orkneys and Shetlands. 



BREEDING HABITS : Richardson's Skua is a summer 

 migrant to our islands, but best known'as passing them 

 on passage during April and May. It arrives at its 

 British breeding-places early in the latter month. The 



