66 JAEGERS AND SKUAS. 



coast, and more rarely through the Great Lakes, and winters from Long Island 

 southward. 



Long Island, regular from June 15 to Oct. SO. Sing Sing, A. V. 



Nest, on the ground. Eggs, two to three, deep olive-drab sparingly spot- 

 ted with slate color, and light and dark raw-umber markings and black dots, 

 chiefly at the larger end, where they become confluent, 2-25 x 1-70 (Brewer). 



37. Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.). PARASITIC JAEGER (see 

 Fig. 6, a). Ad., light phase. Back, wings, and tail slaty fuscous ; top of the 

 head and lores nearly black ; sides of the head and back of the neck straw- 

 yellow, this color sometimes spreading down the sides of the neck and on 

 the throat; breast and belly white; sides of the breast, flanks, lower belly, 

 and crissum slaty fuscous ; tarsi and feet (in dried specimens) black ; middle 

 tail-feathers pointed and extending about 3-00 beyond the others. Ad., dark 

 phase. Entire plumage dark, slaty brown, darker on the top of the head ; 

 under parts slightly lighter ; sometimes a trace of straw-yellow on the sides 

 and back of the neck ; tarsi, feet, and tail as in the preceding. Im., light 

 phase. Upper parts, wings, and tail fuscous; the feathers of the back, neck, 

 and head more or less bordered, tipped, or barred with bufty ; hind-neck and 

 head sometimes bufty, streaked or barred with fuscous, and varying from 

 this color to plain fuscous; longer, lateral upper tail-coverts barred with 

 bufty ; tail bufty, whitish at the base ; under wing-coverts barred with bufty ; 

 under parts white, washed with bufly, and irregularly barred with sooty 

 fuscous ; these bars sometimes very numerous when the under parts looked 

 as if washed with sooty fuscous ; again, they may be less numerous and con- 

 flned to the breast and sides, leaving the belly white ; central tail-feathers 

 pointed, projecting more or less beyond the rest. Im., dark phase. Sooty fus- 

 cous, the feathers, particularly on the under parts, more or less marked with 

 ochraceous-buff. I,., 17-00 ; W., 13-00 : T., Ad., 8-60, Im., 6-40 ; B., 1-15. 



Remarks. This species closely resembles S. longicaudus. Adults of both 

 species, whether in the dark or light phase of plumage, may always be dis- 

 tinguished from each other by the difference in the length of their central 

 tail-feathers, in addition to the characters given in the key. Young birds 

 can not be distinguished by color, but may be identified by the differences in 

 relative proportions of the bill. 



Range. " Northern parts of the northern hemisphere, southward in win- 

 ter to South Africa and South America" (A. O. U.). In America breeds 

 in the Barren Grounds and Greenland ; migrates southward through the Great 

 Lakes and along the Atlantic coasts, and winters from the Middle States 

 southward. 



Long Island, regular from June 15 to Oct. 30. 



Nest, on the moors or tundras, a slight depression in the ground scantily 

 lined witli grasses, etc., or on rocks by the sea. Eggs, two to four, light olive- 

 brown, with frequently a strong greenish tinge and chocolate markings, more 

 numerous and sometimes confluent at the larger end, 2-25 x 1-65. 



38. Stercorarius longicaudus Vicill. LONG-TAILED JAEGER. 

 Ad., light phase. Back, wings, and tail slaty fuscous; top of head and lores 

 nearly black; sides of the head, back and sides of the neck straw -yellow; 



