LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 



37- PARASITIC JAEGER. Stercorarius parasiticus 



Range. Northern Hemisphere, wintering south 

 to South America. 



The Parasitic Jaeger is very similar 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 de- 

 pression 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 



38. 



Stercorarius 



in winter to 



LONG-TAILED JAEGER. 

 longicaudus. 



Range. Arctic America ; south 

 South America Parastic Jaeger 



The long-tailed Jaeger is, according to length, Long-tailed Jseger 



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 from 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 plumage is a near- 

 ly uniform sooty brown, lightest be- 

 low. 



The Long-tailed Jaegers are the 

 most numerous in Alaska and are 

 even more graceful in flight than are 

 the Gulls and Terns, floating, skim- 

 ming, 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 depression, 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. 



37 



