Auks, Gulls, and Plovers 



421 



Photo by C. N. Mavroyeni] 



WOODCOCK. 



The female is larger than the male. 



Of the SKUA-GULLS there are several species. Their coloration differs from that of the 

 gulls just described in being confined to shades of brown. One of their most remarkable 

 traits is that of piracy. They await their cousins the Gulls coming shoreward from the sea 

 with newly swallowed fish, and then, giving chase, compel the gull, in order to lighten itself 

 and escape, to disgorge its hard- won meal. So swift of flight is the skua that the ejected morsel 

 is caught before it reaches the water. 



THE PLOVER TRIBE. 



BIRDS of very various size, 

 shape, and coloration are included 

 in this group that is to say, 

 birds which vary much super- 

 ficially, but, it must be under- 

 stood, all undoubtedly closely 

 related. In England they are 

 to be met with almost every- 

 where. The seashore, the lonely 

 moorland, the desolate marshes, 

 the river's brink, or the woods 

 all these shelter some one or 

 other of the Plover Tribe. Like 

 the Gulls, many adopt a dis- 

 tinctive dress for the courting- 

 season, which, however, is some- 

 times worn by the males only, 

 and not by both sexes alike, 

 as in the Gulls. One of the 

 most striking and familiar 

 instances of this change is seen 

 in the GREY PLOVER. In winter 

 the plumage of the upper-parts 

 of this bird is dusky grey, that of 

 the under-parts pure white ; but 

 in the spring the former is ex- 

 changed for a beautifully varie- 

 gated mantle of black and white, 

 and the latter becomes uniformly 

 jet-black, save the under tail- 

 coverts, which remain white. 



In the DUNLIN, again, we 

 have a similar change, the 

 upper-parts being in winter grey, 

 the under-parts white : in the 

 spring the former become black, 



with an admixture of rust-colour, and the latter black in so far as the breast is concerned, 

 but the abdomen remains white. 



In many of that section of the Plover Tribe distinguished as " Wading-birds," the changes 

 which take place in the spring in the plumage of the upper-parts resemble those already 

 instanced, but the under-parts turn to a rich chestnut instead of black. This occurs in the 

 forms known as the GODWITS, KNOTS, and SANDERLINGS, for example. 



In all the instances so far quoted, both male and female are coloured alike, but, as already 

 hinted, occasionally the change of plumage affects the male only. This is the case with the 



Photo by A. H. P. C, 



[ Wellington. 



OYSTER-CATCHER O~S ITS STEST. 



Three eggs are laid in a slight hollow in the -ground. The oyster-catcher is one of the most 

 wary of the Plover Tribe, and very difficult to approach. 



