The Zoologist — January, 1874. 3813 



went the birds together, almost falling into the sea; but the boat- 

 swain succeeded in eliciting nothing but shrieks out of the snow- 

 bird's mouth by this violent treatment, and flew away sadly 

 disappointed. 



Slercorariiis parasiticus, L. (Common Skua). — The "short-tailed 

 boatswain," as the men designated this species, occurred in every 

 part of Spitsbergen visited by us, including Hope Island and the 

 Seven Islands. It breeds on gentle slopes or low flat ground, usually 

 close to a streamlet, and we found eggs and young in several places. 

 In Lomme Bay 1 found two sets of eggs, each consisting of a couple. 

 They were laid in slight hollows upon the bare ground, one of which 

 contained three dead and wiry stalks of Papaver alpinum by way 

 of a lining — equivalent perhaps to as many knitting needles ; the 

 other had no such ornaments. We found a down-clad brood at 

 Hecla Cove in July, A month later there were young ones flying 

 about in various localities. The parent birds defend their breeding 

 place against all comers, and when menaces take no effect resort to 

 stratagem, flapping about upon the ground like plovers, and making 

 a plaintive cry. Foxes, dogs and deer are objects of their most 

 inveterate animosity. Availing ourselves of this trait, we took a 

 dog from the ship with us whenever we wanted to shoot a skua, 

 either of this or of the other two species, and it seldom failed to 

 entice them within range of the gun. This skua pursues rotches 

 and dovekies on their passage to and from the cliffs j it sometimes 

 also chases looms, and more rarely still snow-birds and kittiwakes. 

 On ice they repose upon their breast like mollies. During the whole 

 of our voyage we saw only three of them settle on the water to 

 swim — one at Walden Island, another in Wiide Bay, and the third 

 in the Greenland Sea, Towards the end of the breeding season, 

 when the young were able to fly, I saw several females which had 

 the gray baud across the breast incomplete, who were mated to 

 males which possessed the band uninterrupted ; and this in places 

 where, at the time of our previous visits, both the sexes had 

 possessed unbroken bands, 



Slercorarius lovgicauda, Vieillot (Longtailed Skua). — Two days 

 after he had shot the redpoll in Wiide Bay, James Kidd fired at a 

 longtailed skua, which flew away wounded. The next day he 

 killed one, and the first engineer another, shooting from the ship 

 whilst we were lying off' Diana Island, near the entrance to East 

 Fiord. Other specimens were shot the same day. We afterwards 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. IX. C 



