22 WATER-BIRDS IN THEIR HOMES. 



own sake, and for the excitement it brings, the jaeger has taken 

 up his parasitic habits, not because they secure* him an easier 

 livelihood, but because they gratify his love of the chase. 



One very curious fact which characterizes some families of 

 sea-birds, but is rarely observed of the. land-birds, must be 

 noted of the jaegers. The species have two different colora- 

 tions or "color-phases." Some birds will be dark all their 

 lives, others will be light-colored for life. They are the same 

 bird in everything but color, although some are almost as 

 light as a sea-gull, and some look nearly black. The light 

 birds much resemble gulls, except in having more or less pale 

 yellow about the throat and head, a darker upper surface which 

 is not a " mantle," as in the gulls, but extends down over the 

 rump and tail end, and a dark crown, which no gull has. The 

 elongated middle tail feathers are a sure mark, as is also the 

 habit of carrying the tail spread. The dark phase is a sooty 

 brown, sometimes, but not always, with a little yellow about 

 the head. The younger birds are mottled brown and white. 



There are three species of jaegers found in the United States, 

 and while not often seen, even offshore, they sometimes travel 

 in winter far to the south along the coast, and are occasionally 

 seen about the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi Valley, 

 always the same bold pirates that we met off Grand Manan. 



