456 STEKCOEAEUD^] 



instantly seized (sometimes before it touches the water), 

 but will actually kill sea-birds, especially the smaller Gulls. 

 I believe that small land-birds when met with at sea are 

 also preyed upon. Floating offal is frequently eaten, and 

 the bird is said to devour stranded carcases. It is, more- 

 over, a notorious egg-robber. 



Nest. The nest is usually situated amidst heather and 

 other moor-land vegetation, and at their breeding-haunts 

 the birds are exceedingly fierce. Two eggs are laid about 

 the end of May, green to greenish-brown in colour and 

 marked with darker blotches. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, as a nesting-species, 

 the Great Skua is plentiful in Iceland ; it also breeds in the 

 Faroes, and sparingly in South Greenland. On migration 

 in winter it visits the waters of Southern Europe, and is 

 found chiefly along the Atlantic sea-board, being rare in the 

 Mediterranean. Westward it reaches the coast of the New 

 England States. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Head and throat, dark 

 brown, speckled with rufous ; pointed feathers at the back 

 of neck, yellowish-brown ; back and wings, dark brown, 

 mottled with chestnut and dull white ; primaries, brown 

 with white bases to inner webs ; tail-feathers, brown, some- 

 what streaked with dull rufous, the central pair half an inch 

 longer than the rest; breast and abdomen, reddish-brown; 

 under wing-coverts, brownish-black. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage. 

 Immature, male and female. Resembles the adult 

 plumage, but the neck-feathers are less pointed and striated, 

 and the feathers of the back and wings are faintly edged 

 with rufous. 



Adult lointer, male and female. Similar to the nuptial 

 plumage. 



BEAK. Black ; strong, and slightly hooked at the 

 extremity. 



FEET. Black ; claws, sharply curved. 

 IKIDES. Brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH 21 in. 



WING 16 



BEAK ... 2'5 



TARSO-METATAKSUS 2*75 ,, 



EGG 2-8 x 2 in. 



