SKUAS 59 
primaries. Beak and legs black. The brown of the upper 
parts streaked chiefly buff or rufous. Under-parts rufous with 
paler streaks, noticeable on the flanks. 
Nest. On open vegetation-covered slopes near the sea. A 
depression lined more or less with dry grass, heather, feathers, 
&c. Species breeds in colonies. 
Eggs. Usually 2. Shades of olive-brown or green, spotted 
and blotched with brown and ash-brown. Av. size, 2°73 x 1:93 
in. Laying begins in mid-May. One brood. 
117. Arctic-skua, Richardson’s skua, shooi [Stercorarius 
rasiticus (Linneeus) ; Stercorarius crepidatus (Gmelin)|. Breeds 
in N. and W. Scotland. Elsewhere a winter visitor. Rare on 
south coast. 
Bird. Length 20in. Distinguished from the preceding by 
its smaller body, shorter wings (13 as ' 
against 16 in.), and long pointed central = 
tail-feathers (7-8 in. long), It may be 5 
distinguished from the rarer long-tailed ZZ 
or Buffon’s skua by having all the shafts iE. 
of the primaries white, instead of only 
the two outer on each side. Coloration Fig. 71. 
of plumage varies greatly, but there are 
two marked types, a light and a dark with intermediate 
varieties. The dark has the plumage mostly sooty-brown. 
The light type has the under-parts and sides of the neck 
whitish or creamy-white, with upper-parts brown, A con- 
spicuous yellowish tinge is in nearly all cases present on the 
sides of the neck and head. Legs black. 
Nest. Vegetation-covered slopes, or moorland, usually near 
the sea. A depression, with scanty 
lining of rough grass, heather, &c. 
Species breeds in colonies, 
Eggs. Usually 2. Much like those 
of the great-skua, but smaller. Av. 
size, 218x161 in. Laying begins 
end May to early June. One brood. 
(4) Family: Gidienemide—Stone- 
curlews 
118. Stone-curlew, Thick-knee, 
Norfolk-plover, great-plover. [@dic- 
nemus edicnemus (Linneus); MHdic- 
nemus scolopaz (S. G. Gmelin)]. Local 
summer visitor to south and east England. Casual visitor 
to other parts. A few winter in 8.W. England. 
Bird. Length 16 in. Distinguished by the large yellow 
