54 HISTORY OF 



To our countryman Edwards, therefore, belongs the credit of 

 having first figured this bird, and to Brisson that of naming it. 



The Pomarine Skua, in the adult state of its plumage, has the 

 head, down to just below the eye, dark brown, approaching to 

 black, the dark marking ending in a point on the back of the 

 head. Sides of the neck, light straw colour; becoming darker 

 on the throat, and hind neck. Lower plumage, straw coloured, 

 thickly traversed with transverse bars of brown ; the bars and 

 ground colour becoming fainter towards the belly, which is 

 pure white. Whole of the upper plumage, together with the 

 wings and tail, of a dark umber brown ; bill, yellow, pointed 

 with black ; legs and feet, deep black ; the two centre tail 

 feathers are about two and a half inches longer than the rest. 



The young bird, before the autumnal moult, is of a brown 

 colour, with the tip of the feathers and under plumage rather 

 lighter. Length, fifteen inches. 



Mr. John Gould, in his work on the European Birds, informs 

 us, that he has procured these birds in considerable abundance 

 from every part of our coasts, while in the performance of their 

 migrations. It is chiefly, however, an inhabitant of the Arctic 

 Circle. 



