THE POMATORHINE-SKUA 223 



from discovery. 1 All the seventeen authentic eggs which I have 

 examined are large compared with those of Richardson's and Buffon's 

 skuas, but the largest eggs of Richardson's skua just overlap the 

 minimum measurement of the pomatorhine. The ground-colour 

 varies from light olive to deep olive-brown, while the markings of 

 dark sienna, shading to sepia-brown, are rather sparingly distributed, 

 and tend to be thickest at the big end. A few ashy shellmarks are 

 also scattered over the surface. Average size of seventeen eggs, 

 2 "52 x I'll in. [6413 x 45 mm.]. Beyond this we know at present 

 nothing of the breeding habits of this bird. Naumann, it is true, 

 states that both sexes have a brooding spot and incubate in turn for 

 four weeks, while the young only stay a few days in the nest. He 

 proceeds to give an account of the food of the young, but it is difficult 

 to see from whence this information was derived, and of course the 

 Naumanns had no personal acquaintance with this species in its 

 breeding-haunts. 



With regard to its notes, E. W. Nelson states that it has a low, 

 harsh, chattering cry when feeding with its companions, and Booth 

 says that the cries and screams uttered by his two immature birds were 

 most amusing. When excited, one or the other would utter a high- 

 pitched call closely resembling the cry of "Toby, Toby, Toby" at a 

 Punch and Judy show, ending with a prolonged scream and whistle. 

 When feeding, if one of these birds happened to get hold of a piece of 

 food too large to be swallowed easily, he would call loudly, when his 

 companion would at once run up to him and clutch hold of the other 

 end of the fish. Each would then tug lustily away till the fish was 

 divided, when they consumed their respective shares in the most 

 friendly way. Sometimes this would happen half a dozen times during 

 one meal. 



1 Nehrkorn (Katalog Eiersamml., p. 225) has obtained eggs from Greenland, which seem 

 small for this species. Several supposed eggs from Greenland which I have examined were 

 undoubtedly those of Richardson's skua. 



