348 BRITISH BIRDS. 



the note is shorter, like the suppressed bark of a dog. All these notes 

 seem to be modifications of the same unmusical sound. 



No kind of fish or flesh comes amiss to the Great Skua, nor is it 

 particular as to the mode in which it is acquired. It snatches up fish as 

 they swim too near the surface of the water, or picks them up as they lie 

 dead and stranded on the shore. It is very fond of following the fishing- 

 boats to secure any refuse that may be thrown overboard, and delights to 

 chase a little Gull or Tern that has just caught a fish, and generally succeeds 

 in robbing it of its prey. It makes raids into the breeding-colonies of its 

 smaller neighbours, and, in spite of their loud cries, plunders their nests of 

 eggs or young. Wounded Gulls often fall victims to its voracity; and 

 Major Feilden found the castings, which in many places covered the little 

 hillocks near their nesting- colony on one of the Faroes, composed princi- 

 pally of the bones and feathers of Kittiwakes. 



It is a rather remarkable fact that so fierce and predacious a bird should 

 be easily tamed; but there does not seem to be much doubt that this is the 

 case. Edmonston informed Macgillivray that in captivity it is gentle and 

 affectionate, and will feed on almost anything. 



The Great Skua may always be recognized by its large size, long feet, 

 and only slightly prolonged central tail-feathers. The wing varies in length 

 from 17 to 15| inches, none of the other species exceeding 14 inches. The 

 tarsus varies in length from 2f to 3j inches, and is shorter than the middle 

 toe and claw. The tail is only slightly rounded, the central feathers not 

 projecting more than an inch beyond the outer ones. 



Of the four species of British Skuas two of them, the Pomarine Skua 

 and Richardson's Skua, have a light and a dark phase. The Great Skua 

 has only a dark phase, whilst Buffon's Skua has only a light phase *. 

 There is no difference in colour or size between the sexes of the Great 

 Skua. The general colour of the upper parts is dark brown streaked with 

 reddish brown ; the quills and tail-feathers are uniform dark brown, 

 shading into white on the base, which on the wing forms a white patch 

 beyond the primary coverts, but on the tail-feathers is entirely concealed 

 by the coverts. The underparts are a slightly paler brown, obscurely 

 streaked with darker brown on the breast and flanks. Bill black ; legs 

 and feet slaty black ; irides hazel. British ornithologists appear to be un- 

 acquainted with the changes of plumage which this species undergoes ; but 

 Naumarm states that the young in first plumage and very old birds are more 

 uniform in colour. Dresser and Saunders apparently regard the uniform 

 plumage as a melanistic phase. Young in down are brownish grey, slightly 

 darker on the upper parts. 



* The two phases of plumage of the Skuas have no connection with the age of the bird, 

 and are discernible in the young in first plumage as well as in the adult. 



