460 STEKCOBAKIID^ 



ARCTIC SKUA. Stercorarius crepidatus (J. F. Gmelin). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 80 ; 

 Dresser, ' Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pis. 611, 612, fig. 2 ; 

 Lilford, ' Coloured Figures,' vol. vi, pi. 34 ; Booth, ' Bough 

 Notes,' vol. iii, pis. 43-46. 



Of the four species of Skuas which migrate during the 

 colder months 1 to British waters, this species, also called 

 Eichardson's Skua, is by far the most plentiful. It visits 

 the east side of England in larger numbers and with much 

 greater regularity than the west, while all round the Scot- 

 tish coast it is by no means scarce. Moreover, a goodly 

 number remain to breed in Sutherland and Caithness, and 

 there are colonies on the Shetlands, 2 Orkneys, and H'ebridean 

 Islands. 



It has been more often recorded from the waters which 

 surround the Irish coast than any of its three congeners. 

 Still it can be regarded only as a periodical, not an annual 

 visitant. On its northern passage in spring, it is less often 

 seen ; Mr. Warren has observed it in the month of May, 

 chasing Terns at the estuary of the Moy, on the Mayo 

 coast. Here the birds have been noticed to tarry for some 

 days en route for their breeding-haunts. Several were seen 

 on Donegal Bay, and one secured there on May 18th, 1881, 

 by Mr. E. W. Holt. Mr. Ussher, in his 'Birds of Ireland ' 

 mentions instances of the occurrence of this bird in June. 



Like the Pomatorhine Skua, it has made exceptionally 

 large visitations from time to time to our coasts. In- 

 teresting accounts have been cited by Mr. Warren, among 

 which may be mentioned a large migration witnessed in 

 October, 1851, at Killala Bay. Small flocks were seen pass- 

 ing iii succession in a south-westerly direction until the 

 total number amounted to about a hundred birds. 



Flight. This Skua, when pursuing Gulls and Terns, 

 displays the same adroitness in turning and swooping which 

 so well characterises the whole group. At all times the 

 flight is exceedingly buoyant and well-sustained. A Gull is 



1 After October this Skua becomes rarer on our coasts. Mr. Saxby 

 mentions seeing one on November 23rd, 1902, while several more were 

 observed on the east side of the Shetlands up till December 6th, 

 (' Zoologist,' 1903, p. 157). 



2 Mr. Eagle Clarke states that on Fair Isle, one of the Shetland 

 Group, this bird, which formerly bred in some numbers, is now reduced 

 to a single pair (Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1906, p. 79). 



