24 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



vertical. They breed throughout the Arctic regions, but not as commonly in 

 America as the following species. The nest is on the ground in the marsh 

 grass and is made of grass and moss. They lay two and rarely three eggs of an 

 olive brown or greenish color. These are spotted with brown and black. Size 

 2.20 x 1.70. 



37. Parasitic Jaeger. Ster cor arius par asitic us. 



Range. Northern Hemisphere, wintering south to South America. 



The Parastic Jaeger is very simi- 

 lar to the Pomarine except that the 

 central tail feathers are pointed and 

 are straight instead of twisted. It 

 is an abundant bird in Alaska, 

 breeding from the Aleutian Chain 

 northward. 



They locate their nests ' in the 

 highest parts of marshy places, the 

 nest itself being only a depression 

 in the ground lined with grass and 

 moss. The two eggs have an olive 

 greenish or brownish ground and 

 are marked with various shades of 



brown and black. Size 2.15 x 1.65. 

 [Brownish,] Data. So. Greenland, June 28, 1900. 



Nest made of moss and seaweed and placed on the ground. 



Two eggs. 

 Collector, 



Wilhelm Schulter. 



38. Long-tailed Jaeger. Stercorarius longicaudus. 



Range. Arctic America; south in winter to South America. 



The long-tailed Jaeger is according to length, the largest of the Jaegers, 

 being 21 in. long; this is, however, due to the long sharp pointed central pair 

 of tail feathers, which extend about eight inches beyond the others, and form 

 the most noticeable distinguishing 

 point from the former species. The 

 plumages that have been described 

 are the light phases; all the Jaegers 

 have a dark phase in which the plu- 

 mage is a nearly uniform sooty brown, 

 lightest below. 



The Long-tailed Jaegers are the most 

 numerous in Alaska and are even 

 more graceful in flight than are the 

 Gulls and Terns, floating, skimming, 

 sailing, plunging, and darting about 

 with incredible swiftness and ease. 

 Like the others of this family, they 

 pilfer their food from the Gulls, and 

 are also very destructive to young birds 



and eggs. Their eggs are either laid on the bare ground or in a slight depres- 

 sion, scantily lined with grasses. The eggs are indistinguishable from those of 

 the preceding species except that they average a trifle smaller. Size 2.10 x 1.50. 

 Data. Baillie Is., North West Territory, July 12, 1901. Two eggs. Nest on the 

 ground, lined with willow leaves. Collector, Capt. H. H. Bodfish. 



