Skua. NATATORES. CATARACTES. 515 
with the utmost fury, should it happen to venture within 
the limits of the breeding territory. As above observed, it 
inhabits the Shetland Isles, breeding in communities upon 
Foulah, Unst, and Rona’s Hill in Mainland. It selects the 
wild and unfrequented heaths for the site of its nest, which 
is formed of a few dried weeds and grasses; and its eggs, 
two in number, are of a dark oil-green colour, blotched with 
irregular brown spots, with smaller whitish ones intermixed. 
After performing the duties of incubation, it retires to the 
adjacent seas, where it leads a solitary life, rarely approach- 
ing the land till the advance of spring again urges it to seek 
its summer retreat. It is but seldom found in the southern 
parts of Scotland, and the instances of its capture upon the 
English coast are of still rarer occurrence, Montacu only 
mentioning one, of a bird that was shot at Sandwich, in 
Kent.—The food of the Skua consists of fish, the carcasses 
of cetaceze, and other marine animal matter; a great part of 
which is obtained from the larger Gulls, whom it attentively 
watches, and pursues with unceasing hostility, till they are 
compelled to disgorge the fish or other substance that they 
had previously swallowed, and which, from its rapid evolu- 
tions on the wing, it generally catches before reaching the 
surface of the water. In this, as well as in the other species, 
the claws are strong and much hooked, particularly that of 
the inner toe; and it is said to make use of them in holding 
fast its prey, which is torn in pieces after the manner of 
raptorial birds. ‘The Skua inhabits also various parts of the 
Arctic Regions, and is well known in the Feroe Islands, in 
Norway, and Iceland. It is, moreover, a native of the high 
latitudes of the southern hemisphere, and is mentioned by 
Coox, and other circumnavigators, under the name of the 
Port Egmont Hen. Dr Fremine * observes, that the fea- 
* For some interesting observations upon the Skuas, I refer my readers 
to a paper by Dr Fremrine, published in the first volume of the Edin- 
burgh Philosophical Journal. 
KkQ 
Nest, &c. 
Food. 
