Aves. 167 



/. 9 pull. Cape Adare, Jan. 8th, 1900. {E. B. Evans.) 

 fj. h. ^ pull. Cape Adare, Jan. 9th, 1900. {H. B. Evans.) 

 i. k. (? 9 ad. Cape Adare, Jan. 14th, 1900. {H. B. Evans.) 

 I. 9 juv. Mount Melbourne, Feb. 6th, 1900. (//. B. Evans.) 



Nestling (about two days old). Covered with greyish-white down, 

 with a pinkish-brown tinge on the interscapular region and on the 

 rudimentary wings. 



As the nestling grows older, the brown tinge becomes more 

 prevalent. 



The full-grown young birds, killed in February, are much darker 

 than the adults, and are sooty grey, with edgings of lighter sooty 

 grey to the feathers of the upper surface. Two of these young 

 birds have a lighter grey hind neck, and are paler grey below, while 

 the third has no lighter area in the hind neck, and is everywhere 

 darker and somewhat melanistic. 



The sign of an old bird is undoubtedly the yellow on the hind 

 neck and throat, and this becomes more and more bleached, like the 

 rest of the plumage. 



The eggs of this Skua are plentifully varied in colour. There are 

 at least three distinct types of ground-colour — an olive brown, more 

 or less dark, an olive-grey stone-colour, and a pale green. The 

 latter are not so plentifully spotted as the rest of the series, having 

 faint brown spots and lines, with nearly obsolete underlying spots 

 and blotches of purplish grey. The series measures : — Axis, 2 * 58- 

 3-09; diameter, 1-86-2 '08. 



The brown eggs have the underlying marks very distinct, but not 

 so prominent or so dark as the overlying spots and blotches, which 

 take a variety of shapes, and are sometimes confluent near the larger 

 end of the egg, so as to form a large irregular patch. Of this species, 

 Mr. Howard Saunders writes in the ' Antarctic Manual ' : — 



" After the Penguins and some of the Petrels, the most prominent 

 species within the Antarctic circle is a predacious and aggressive 

 Gull, McCormick's Skua, named after its virtual discoverer. It was 

 first obtained at Possession Island, Victoria Land, where a pair had 

 taken up their residence in the midst of a colony of the Adelie 

 Penguins, and subsequently examples were obtained or seen nearly 

 as far south as 78°, while Long. 178° W. was the furthest record in 

 the direction of America. The ' Bclgica ' brought back four examples, 

 from lat. 82° and 86° W., in the ice-pack. The 'Southern Cross' 

 obtained a fine series, from the downy plumage upwards ; these young 

 birds being of a dark slaty grey, and very different from those of the 



