452 STEKQORAEIID.T: .STERCORARIUS 





775. Stercorarius antarcticus.. Southern Skua. 



Lestris antarctica, Lesson, Traitc, p. 616 (1831) ; Fleck, Journ. Ornith. 



1894, p. 379. 



Lestris catarrhactes (nee Linn.} Layard, Ibis, 1867, p. 459. 

 Stercorarius catarrhactes, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 366 (1867) ; id. Ibis, 



-1869, p. 77. 

 Stercorarius antarcticus, Saunders, P. Z. 8. 1876, p. 321 ; Sharpe and 



Eaton, Phil. Trans, vol. 168, p. 109, pi. vii, fig. 1 (1879) ; id. ed. 



Layard's B. 8. Afr. p. 696 (1884) ; Swinburne, P. R. Pliys. Soc. 



Edin. ix, p. 200 (1886) ; Green, Ocean Bds. p. 87 (1887) ; Shelley, B. 



Afr. i, p. 165 (1896) ; Reichenow, Vog. Afr. i, p. 38 (1900). 

 Megalestris antarctica, Saunders, Cat. B. M. xxv, p. 319 (1896). 

 " Cape Hawk" or " Sea Hen" of sailors, " Cape Egmont Hen " of the 



Falkland Islanders. 



FIG. 141. Head of Stercorarius antarcticus. x % 



Description. Adult Female. General colour above and below 

 brown, paler round the neck and of a more earthy shade below ; 

 neck, mantle and scapulars with paler and more rufous shaft 

 markings to the feathers ; primaries with the shafts and basal 

 halves white, forming a conspicuous band when the bird is flying. 



Iris light brown ; bill and legs black. 



Length (in flesh) 23-5 ; wing 16-25 ; tail 6-5 ; culmen 1-5 ; 

 tarsus 2-95 ; middle toe and claw 3-10. 



The sexes are alike ; the young birds have a tinge of rufous 

 on the lower surface. 



Distribution. The Southern Skua ranges over the southern 

 portion of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from the Falkland 

 Islands to New Zealand, extending northwards to Norfolk Island 

 and to Madagascar. It is known to breed on the Falklands, 



