228 THE SKUAS 



with the black crown, being very conspicuous. Concealment, however, 

 is the last thing this skua seems to wish for. As described by Wheel 

 wright, directly one approaches the nesting-ground, the skua comes 

 sailing close overhead, performing the most beautiful airy gyrations, the 

 long sharp wings and pointed tail giving him a singularly wild and 

 rakish look. As he hovers for a moment overhead, his tail feathers are 

 widely expanded like a fan. His loud dismal shriek, " I-i-i-ah, je-ah, 

 je-oh, je-oh" rings out as he dashes straight for one's head, swooping 

 upward just as he seems about to touch. Where not much disturbed 

 by men, his boldness is such that he will actually strike an intruder. 

 Thus Feilden only kept these birds off at Smith's Sound by holding 

 his gun-barrels overhead, and Popham and his companion on the 

 Yenesei were actually struck by the wings of stooping birds. Both 

 sexes share in these courageous attacks, and the nearer one 

 approaches to the nest the more vigorous become their onslaughts. 

 Against such enemies as the Arctic-fox or the gyr-falcons these 

 tactics are naturally of great value, but the result with man is that it 

 is easy to discover the position of any nest within reasonable distance, 

 especially as the sitting bird will return to the eggs without hesitation 

 if the intruder only retires fifty yards, or in some cases even less. 

 Manniche observed that after the eggs had been taken the sitting 

 bird (as in the case of many other species) returned and rested on the 

 nest for some minutes. In one case the bird sat for more than half 

 an hour afterwards. 



After the young are hatched they do not stay long in the 

 nest, and then the parents show their anxiety in a different way. 

 As long as the young are not actually found they are more 

 wary, but when closely approached they will throw themselves on 

 the ground and even roll about in order to distract attention from 

 the young. 



The latter grow very rapidly, and even in the downy stage the 

 birds of the light and dark forms are distinguishable, though both 

 forms may be met with in one pair of birds or in one nest. By mid- 



