McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 



explorers, like most men, though kindly by nature, 

 are entirely thoughtless in their dealings with wild 

 animals, and the skuas approach them only to be 

 killed or severely injured by the ice-axes or rocks 

 that are thrown at them in wanton sport as they 

 light on the ground or hover near the visitors, 

 whom they quickly discover to be their bitter and 

 relentless foes. 



Arriving at the rookeries somewhat later than 

 the Adelies, they do not lay their eggs until the 

 beginning of December. Practically no nest is 

 made, a mere hollow being worked in the ground, 

 in which the bird sits. Frequently several hollows 

 are made before the hen finally settles where she 

 will lay. The two eggs, which are brownish olive 

 thickly and darkly mottled with brown, are incu- 

 bated for four weeks, after which the chicks are 

 hatched. 



From the moment of their first appearance from 

 the egg these chicks exhibit the most extraordinary 

 precocity. Covered with pale slaty-grey down, 

 they look anything but the pugnacious little animals 

 they turn out to be. Their one idea, besides 

 feeding, seems to be to fight one another, and they 

 may be seen to roll about the nest, locked together, 

 fighting with beak and claw. They are fed from 

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