842 STEECORARIUS 



N. Russia, Britain ; in winter south to the Mediterranean and 

 the West Coast of Africa to the Cape ; Northern Siberia, Kam- 

 chatka, the Commander and Kurile Islands; in winter south 

 to the Makran and Sind coasts, Australia and New Zealand ; 

 the Arctic regions of North America, south in winter to New 

 York, Illinois, Colorado, and the coast of Brazil. 



Like its allies it is a bold, rapacious bird, subsisting chiefly 

 by plunder. It is swift and active on the wing, swirns with 

 ease, but does not either dive or plunge. Its cry is plaintive, 

 not unlike the prolonged mew of a cat, and when alarmed it 

 utters a sound between a hiss and a croak. At its breeding 

 places it is exceedingly bold and daring. The nest is a mere 

 hollow in the moss or grass, in which 2 eggs are laid late in 

 May or early in June ; these are greenish grey, greenish stone- 

 colour, or olive-brown in ground-colour, more or less spotted 

 and blotched with purplish grey and deep umber-brown, measur- 

 ing about 217 by 1*57. It riests on moors, peat-bogs, or the 

 grassy tops of sea cliffs, usually several pairs near together. 



1157. BUFFON'S SKUA. 

 STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS. 



Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 226 (1766) ; (Gould), B. 

 of E. v. pi. 442 ; Dresser, viii. p. 481, pi. 612, fig. 1 ; Saunders, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mas. xxv. p. 334 ; id. Manual, p. 693 ; (Lilford), vi. p. 77, 

 pi. 35 ; S. longicaudus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. xxii. p. 157 (1819) ; 

 Gould, B. of Gt. Brit. v. pi. 81 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 1059 ; 

 Eidgway, p. 23 ; L. crepidata (nee. Gmel.), Naum. x. p. 534, 

 pi. 274 ; S. bu/oni, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 562 ; (Hewitson), ii. p. 508, 

 pi. cxliii. fig. 1 ; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. p. 289. 



Ldble a longue giieue, French ; Lablo coda-lunga, Ital. ; Kleiner 

 Raubmowe, German ; Kleinsfe Jager, Dutch ; Lille Kjove, Dan. ; 

 Fjeldjo, Norweg. ; Fjcillabl, Swed. ; Skaiti, Haskil, Lapp. ; 

 funturi-miska, Finn. 



$ ad. (Lapland). Differs from S. crepidatus in being smaller, the 

 crown, nape, and sides of head glossy blackish brown, the yellow on the 

 cheeks much brighter, the upper parts ashy grey, the middle tail-feathers 

 much longer, and the two first primaries only with white shafts ; bill plum- 

 beous at the base, otherwise black ; legs plumbeous, with large black 

 patches on the feet ; iris dark brown. Culmen lvL5, wing 11 -5, tail 13'0, 

 the middle feathers 8*1 longer than the lateral ones, tarsus 1*5 inch. 



Hob. The Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America, 

 migrating south in the autumn and winter as far as the Straits 

 of Gibraltar ; of rare occurrence in the Mediterranean ; the 



