268 RICHARDSON'S SKUA. 



dant than any of the others. Jura and Isla are 

 noted by Pennant ; many parts of the Orkneys by 

 the latest voyagers there ; the old recorded Holm 

 of Eddy, in Hoy, being still one of the more fa- 

 vourite resorts ; and by Messrs. Dunn and Hewit- 

 son it was found on the Ross in Shetland. It 

 breeds on these islands in small colonies, some- 

 times selecting the summits of the hills, at others 

 the low and marshy grounds, making the nest of 

 dried grasses, &c. The eggs are somewhat similar 

 to those of the true gulls. In Norway, Mr. He wit- 

 son found the Skua breeding in pairs, each taking 

 possession of its separate island. It visits Massa- 

 chusetts and Maine during winter.* 



In three specimens of this bird before us, all 

 shot in the Firth of Forth, one has the entire 

 plumage of a greyish clove-brown, paler beneath, 

 the edges and bend of the wing only being white ; 

 the auriculars and sides of the neck slightly tinted 

 with shining sienna-yellow. In the second, the 

 crown, back, wings, tail, and thighs, are dark clove- 

 brown, the back of the neck and all the under parts 

 white. In both these birds the centre tail-feathers 

 exceed the others by two inches and a half; in the 

 last the legs and feet are completely black, in the 

 former slightly pied. The third specimen is in the 

 young state, or Black-toed Gull, where the legs are 

 pied and the half of the feet are yellowish white 

 with a band of black in front. The head, neck, 

 bend of the wing, and all the under parts, are wood 

 * Audubon. 



