SKUAS 



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Greenland, and Baffin-land. In Europe the known breeding-places, of which the 

 Shetlands are the most southerly, are yearly becoming fewer. Of late years, 

 indeed, these birds have rapidly diminished in numbers, and they seem about to 

 share the fate of the great auk. Like the rest of its tribe, the great skua takes its 

 name from its monotonous cry of " skua-skua." 



Temminck's The second Arctic representative of the group is Temmincks 



skua. skua (Stercorarius pomatorhiniis). Inferior in size to the last, it has 

 the two middle tail-feathers much longer than the rest, and twisted vertically, being in 

 this respect unlike its larger relative, in which these feathers exceed the others by less 

 than an inch. This bird breeds in Arctic and sub- Arctic Europe, Asia, and America, 

 and in winter ranges southwards as far as northern Australia, South Africa, and Peru. 



FULJIAR PKTREL. 



Long-Tailed Nearly allied is the long-tailed skua (S. parasiticus), a bird 



Skua. which, when driven inland by storms, takes readily to a country life, 

 and often may be seen in meadows and fields (especially when freshly ploughed) 

 seeking its food after the manner of a plover. Since fresh water is not much to 

 its taste, it never remains long away from the sea, near which it makes its home 

 among the marshes. Although migrating as far south as Gibraltar, it seldom 

 breeds beyond the Arctic Circle, within which it is met with all round the pole. 

 Of the approximate size of a jackdaw, this skua is distinguished by the middle 

 tail-feathers gradually tapering until they are 9 inches longer than the others, as 

 well as by the white shafts of the two outer primary quills. In colour it is dark 

 grey above with the crown and nape blackish, and the throat, neck, and under- 

 pays white, shading into pale grey. 



