26 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



9. Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.). PARASITIC JAEGER. 



Ads. light phase. Back, wings, and tail slaty fuscous; top of head and lores nearly black; 

 sides of head and back of neck straw-yellow, this color sometimes spreading down sides of 

 neck and on throat; breast and belly white; sides of breast, flanks, lower belly, and crissum 

 slaty fuscous; tarsi a,nd feet (in dried specimens) black; middle tail-feathers pointed and 

 extending about 3.00 beyond the others. Ads. dark phase. Entire plumage dark, slaty 

 brown, darker on top of head; underparts slightly lighter; sometimes a trace of straw-yellow 

 on sides and back of neck; tarsi, feet and tail as in preceding. Im. light phase. Upperparts, 

 wings and tail fuscous; feathers of back, neck and head more or less bordered, tipped or barred 

 with buffy; hindneck and head sometimes buffy, streaked or barred with fuscous, and varying 

 from this color to plain fuscous; longer, lateral upper tail-coverts barred with buffy; tail buffy, 

 whitish at base; under wing-coverts barred with buffy; underparts white, washed with buffy, 

 and irregularly barred with sooty fuscous; these bars sometimes very numerous when the under- 

 parts look as if washed with sooty fuscous; again, they may be less numerous and confined to 

 breast and sides, leaving the belly white; central tail-feathers pointed, projecting somewhat 

 beyond the others. Im. dark phase. Sooty fuscous feathers, particularly on underparts, more 

 or less marked with ochraceous-buff. L., 17.00; W., 13.00; T., Ad., 8.60; Im., 6.40; B., 1.15. 



Remarks. This species closely resembles S. longicaudus. Adults of both species, whether 

 in the dark or light phase of plumage, may always be distinguished from each other by the 

 difference in the length of their central tail-feathers, in addition to the characters given in 

 the key. Young birds cannot be distinguished by color, but may be identified by the differ- 

 ences in relative proportions of the bill. Eaton calls attention to the fact that in parasiticus 

 the shafts of all the primaries are white, while in longicaudus only the outer two or three are 

 white, the rest being abruptly brownish. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere, breeding far northward, straggling in 

 winter occasionally to North Carolina. 



Range in North Carolina. Once taken near Cape Lookout in winter. 



Our only record of this bird is that of a specimen purchased by Pearson from 

 A. Piner of Morehead City. It had been taken near Cape Lookout in the fall of 

 1897. (See Auk, vol. 16, p. 249.) 



Jaegers are fierce sea-pirates, and constantly rob gulls of their food. Pearson, 

 who has watched them on the coast of Maine, states that their flight is very strong, 

 and that they are able to turn and twist through the air with wonderful dexterity. 



The Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) winters as far south as New Jersey, and the 

 Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus) has been taken in Florida; hence both species 

 are not unlikely to be found off our coast. 



5. FAMILY LARID>E. GULLS AND TERNS 



This large and important family contains the great majority of the long- winged 

 swimmers. The usual color is white, with a darker mantle, usually of a pearly, 

 bluish tint, but sometimes blackish or sooty. 



Two subfamilies, the gulls (Larince) and the terns (Sternince), are recognized. 



KEY TO THE SUBFAMILIES AND GENERA 



1. Bill more or less hooked; general color chiefly white, with a darker (bluish -gray or slaty) 

 mantle; tail usually even. Gulls. (Subfamily Larince.) See 2. 



1. Bill not hooked, the mandibles even; tail deeply forked except in Anous. Terns. (Sub- 



family Sterninw.) See 4. 



2. Hind toe rudimentary or absent. Rissa. 



2. Hind toe perfectly developed, but small. See 3. 



3. Tail even. Larus. 



3. Tail deeply emarginate or forked. Xema. 



4. Tail little more than one-third length of wing, its outer feathers broad and rounded, toes 



scantily webbed, colors dark. Hydrochelidon. 



4. Tail much more than one-third length of wing, its outer feathers narrow and pointed, toes 



full webbed. See 3. 



5. Bill stout, its depth at its base equal to ^ culmen. Gelochelidon. 



5. Bill slender, its depth at base not one-third its length. (If stout, wing is over 14.00.) Sterna. 



