POMATORHINE SKUA. 93 



In its mode of capturing prey the Great Skua is almost 

 Accipi trine in its habits, and lives chiefly upon the toil of the 

 smaller Gulls, which it follows with fierce pertinacity, and 

 compels them to disgorge the fish they have captured ; nor, if 

 one of their number is wounded or in distress, will it hesitate 

 to pursue and seize it. For this reason it is almost as much 

 dreade d as a Peregrine or other bird of prey. 



Nest. A hollow in the moss on the upland moors, with 

 sometimes a bit of grass as a lining. 



Eggs. Two, sometimes only one, laid in May and June. 

 The ground-colour is dark chocolate-brown or olive-brown, so 

 dark that the spots do not stand out in bold contrast, the spots 

 being generally of a reddish-brown colour, sometimes very 

 faint, and at others inclining to blackish, especially when they 

 become confluent at the large end of the egg. Axis, 2 '55-2 '9 

 inches; diam., i '85-1*95. 



THE SMALL SKUAS. GENUS STERCORARIUS. 



Stercorariu$ } Briss. Orn. vi. p. 149 (1760). 



Type, probably S. crepidatus (Banks). 



The genus Stercorarius comprises a few species of much 

 smaller size than the members of the genus Megaltstris, though 

 they are equally parasitic in their habits, and are armed with 

 equally fierce talons, and the accipitrine cere of the Great 

 Skuas. The central tail-feathers are elongated beyond the 

 others to the extent of three inches at least, and often to a 

 length of eight or nine inches. The tarsus is distinctly shorter 

 than the middle toe and its claw. (Cf. Saunders, Cat. B. Brit; 

 Mus. xxv. p. 314.) 



Three species of the smaller Skuas are known, all of them 

 Arctic in their habitat, ranging south in winter, one of them, 

 S, pomatorhinus, wandering at that season of the year into 

 the southern oceans. 



I. THE POMATORHINE SKUA. STERCORARIUS POMATORHINUS. 



Lestris pomarina t Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 514 (1815); Macgill. 

 Brit. B. v. p. 487 (1852); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part 

 xxi. (1892). 



