662 



GA VI JE. 



LARID^E. 





STEBCOBABIUS CATABBHACTES (Linnaeus*). 

 THE GKEAT SKUA. 



Lestris cataractes. 



STERCORARIUS, Brisson^. Bill strong, hard, cylindrical*, formed for cutting ; 

 compressed, curved, and hooked at the point ; base of the upper mandible 

 covered with a cere. Nostrils situated towards the point of the beak, diagonal, 

 narrow, closed behind, pervious. Legs strong, naked above the tarsi, which are 

 rather long ; three toes in front, palmated ; the hind toe small ; claws large, 

 strong, very much curved. Tail slightly rounded, the two middle feathers 

 elongated, sometimes considerably. Wings moderate, the first quill-feather the 

 longest. 



THE various species of the genus Stercorarius have long 



* Larus Catarractes, Linnreus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 226 (1766). 

 t Ornithologie, vi. p. 150 (1760). 



