LARID^E ; SKUAS, TERNS. 519 



serviceable in carrying off the refuse that is left by Man. The 

 Skuas are a tribe of Gulls which are larger than the rest, and 

 which obtain their chief subsistence by robbing other marine 

 birds of their prey. The Common Skua, which is abundant on 

 many parts of the British shores, is not much inferior to the 

 Eagles in size and strength ; and as it is a courageous Bird, it 

 has no difficulty in keeping the smaller Gulls in subjection, 

 though it is not known to attack them for the sake of devour- 

 ing their bodies. It is accused, in the Orkney and Shetland 

 Islands, of attacking lambs ; but this is unlikely, though it 

 may very probably feed on the bodies of such, as it finds dead 

 in the pastures. Although the claws are strong and crooked, 

 these birds cannot carry off anything in them, from the want of 

 an efficient hind-toe, against which to act. The Terns, or Sea- 

 Swallows, have a lengthened, straight, and slender bill, rather 



FIG. 301. TBRN, OR SEA-SWALLOW. 



curved at the tip ; their wings are long and pointed ; and their 

 tails forked. These birds are met with on almost every 

 sea-coast in the world, and occasionally proceed inland to the 

 lakes, &c. They are continually seen on the wing, and are some- 

 times found at very great distances from land. Their food con- 

 sists principally of fish ; some also attack the eggs and young 

 of water-birds; and others feed only on insects, like the Swallows, 

 which they so much resemble. They are migratory in their 

 habits, passing southwards in the winter, in large flocks. Some 



