The Arctic Skua and its Nesting 



Having, then, seen me safely concealed in my hiding-place, 

 the keeper retired to the knoll from where we had first 

 watched the birds, and with camera carefully focused on the 

 nest I waited anxiously the return of the skua. I had not 

 long to wait, for quite fearlessly the hen bird for such I 

 took her to be circled once or twice above the nesting- 

 ground and then alighted gracefully a short distance from 

 her eggs. One. of the photographs illustrating this chapter 

 shows her as she stood immediately before settling down on 

 to her nest. 



An extremely interesting point in birds of the skua tribe 

 is the fact that they have two distinct varieties of plumage. 

 Some birds have the neck and breast white, while in others 

 these parts are of a dark sooty brown. In the case of the pair 

 I had under observation the hen had the breast dark and the 

 cock had this part of his plumage white. 



For perhaps an hour I remained in the hide, and secured 

 a number of photographs. I had anticipated a difficulty in 

 changing the plates, but managed to do this without 

 disturbing my "sitter." When I wished to leave my 

 hiding-place, being unwilling to betray my presence in the 

 erection, I crept to the "door," and by waving a handkerchief 

 attracted the keeper's notice. Immediately he stood up the 

 skua sprang from her nest and vanished from my restricted 

 view. 



That afternoon, in the house of the local postmaster- 

 who was also a keen photographer I developed my plates, 

 and decided to cross over to the nesting-ground next day to 

 make some further efforts. 



When morning broke the sky was still cloudless, but a 

 gale from the north swept the island. From a rocky plateau 

 one could see the big waves breaking in on the shore, and 

 the sun shone on an expanse of turbulent waters. The 

 nesting-ground of the skua was in comparative shelter, and 

 beyond causing the hide to vibrate a little, the wind did not 

 affect me. I was, as before, seen safely into the structure by 



29 



