102 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



In Patagonia rodents, I venture to conclude, form their 

 principal food, as this section of land animals is more numerous 

 than any other. On Kerguelen Island small birds suffer heavily 

 in the absence of small mammals. The arrival of a sealing ship 

 at Kerguelen Island is an event for the bloodthirsty Skua and its 

 dainty ally the gull, Larus dominicanus, Licht. They are the 

 principal performers in the carcass-eating which follows a raid 

 upon a seal-lair. Giant Petrels rush into the skinless trunks 

 and come out bloodstained and with bills thoroughly stained. 

 The Skua is a shade more careful, but is not particular until it 

 has satisfied itself. The snowy-breasted gull mentioned above 

 is not so bold as any of its fellow feasters, yet they quarrel for a 

 good place on a carcass. The pigeon-like Sheathbill, which is 

 almost pure white, deigns to bloodstain its pretty coral-red feet, 

 but the gull does not enjoy the act. Others there are, but all 

 give way at once with the advance of the Skua. 



Although the Great Skua is a ravenous creature the work of 

 clearing away offensive seal bodies is performed by the hundreds 

 of white gulls which flock to the scene, and when they rise the 

 sky looks a feathered picture. A wonderful provision of 

 nature is here shown. Hundreds of tons of organic matter lie 

 upon a beach that early show signs of reaching a putrid stage. 

 Thousands of birds, the youngest of which have possibly never 

 tasted flesh, and the oldest ten or twenty years ago or never, 

 without hesitation settle down to the strange meal, and in a week 

 they will have removed from the shore hundreds of tons of 

 decaying animal matter that would have caused trouble if these 

 scavengers had not been provided. On the mainland it would 

 have been " For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles 

 be gathered together." 



With its general night habits I am not acquainted, but I know 

 it is, under the newer circumstances, up and doing at 2 a.m. 

 along with Giant Petrels and white gulls (only one species here). 

 Although there is not that revelry by night that there is by day, 

 just as much eating seems to be done. Possibly many species 

 of petrels join, and in their own quiet way do much to reduce 

 the superfluous food. 



Each pair of Skuas seems to patrol a given area, and when you 

 are approaching their nest they make a hard, screeching noise, 

 continuing so till you retire. In self-preservation I was forced to 

 kill an adult with a stick, as it attacked me. If you take their 

 eggs they make a great commotion, with harsh, pitiful, and 

 uniform notes, but very little is said by them when they have 

 taken the eggs of other birds. 



The fearless nature of the bird astonished me. One was cap- 

 tured by the hand while it was feeding on a dead seal, so intent 

 was it upon the work. Stones were repeatedly thrown at others, 



