LONG- WINGED SWIMMERS Order Longipennes 



SKUAS AND J^GERS Family Stercorariidce 



SKUA 



35. Megalestris skua. 22 inches. 



These large birds are the most powerful and audacious 

 .pirates among the sea fowl of northern waters. Their 

 whole form is indicative of strength; form robust, feet 

 strong, and bill large, powerful and hooked. Their 

 plumage is of a nearly uniform blackish-brown, with 

 white shafts to the wing feathers and a white patch 

 at the base of the primaries. 



Nest. They do not nest in large colonies, only a sin- 

 gle or a few pairs breeding in the same locality. Their 

 nests are hollows in the ground, a short distance back 

 from the rocky shores. The two eggs that they lay are 

 olive brown, spotted with blackish (2.75x1.80). 



Range. North Atlantic coasts, chiefly on the Old 

 World side, breeding from the Shetland Islands and 

 possibly Greenland, northwards. They are only rarely 

 found on our coasts even in winter, but have been taken 

 as far south as New York. 



