334 LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



upon some choice morsel and conveyed it far astern to be devoured. A single speci- 

 men is recorded by Schembri, a naturalist of Malta, as having been captured at sea 

 about twenty miles north of that island. 



According to the observations of Mr. H. Saunders, made at Malaga, this species 

 is the most abundant of the three kinds of Skuas occurring on the coast of Spain in 

 winter, and chiefly on the Atlantic side. 



It is given by Middendorff as occurring on the tundras of Northern Siberia, and is 

 included in the list of those most Arctic in their distribution. 



It was met with by Mr. G. Gillett on the coast of Nova Zembla ; and Von Heuglin 

 also states that it is by far the most common species in that island, as well as on 

 Waigatsch. He found it feeding principally on lemmings {Mijodes) ; and it was not 

 unfrequently seen in flocks, especially on the ice-fields. 



According to the observations of Mr. Wheelwright, it is rarely seen in the sum- 

 mer on the Scandinavian coast below the Arctic Circle. It is not known with 

 certainty to breed on the coast of Norway, and is nowhere so common as is the para- 

 siticus. It is occasionally seen, late in autumn, in the Cattegat and the Baltic. He 

 adds that, so far as his experience goes, the eggs of all the Skuas have much the 

 same appearance ; they have a pale olive-green or yellowish-gray ground-color, and 

 are irregularly blotched and spotted with two shades of reddish brown. The eggs 

 of Megalestris skua are easily recognized by their size ; those of the other three species 

 are with difficulty distinguished from each other. They all vary in size, shape, and 

 color. The Qgg of the pomarinus is usually thinner and more pointed at the smaller 

 end than are the other two; but there is hardly any difference between the eggs 

 of parasiticus and longicaudus, except, perhaps, that the eg^ of the latter species is 

 thicker and a little blunter at the larger end, and usually greener in color, especially 

 when first taken. Sommerfeldt states erroneously that the Pomarine Skua breeds 

 inland, a little way from the coast. 



The Pomarine Skua does not breed in any part of Great Britain, and is only a 

 winter visitor there, coming down the lines both of the eastern and the western 

 coast in the autumn — some remaining on the southern shores all winter. It also 

 visits the shores of Germany, Holland, and France ; and several young birds appear 

 almost every year on the lakes of Switzerland. 



Professor Newton speaks of this species — which he calls the Pomatorrhine Skua 

 — as having been observed by several travellers in Iceland, but as not being com- 

 mon there. He saw but a single individual — on the day of his arrival at Reykjavik, 

 April 27. This bird is also found on the Faroe Islands. 



In the several Arctic voyages it has been observed on the coast of Greenland, 

 at Whale-fish Island, in Prince Regent's Inlet, at Melville Island, and at Igloolik. A 

 nest, containing two eggs, was found near Fury Point by Sir James C. Ross, on the 

 margin of a small lake. This bird is said to form a rude nest of grass and moss, 

 placed on a tuft in the marshes, or on a small rock. The eggs are two or three in 

 number. 



Audubon, when within a few miles of the coast of Labrador, observed one of these 

 Skuas approaching his vessel. It resembled, in its manner of flight, the Pigeon-hawk, 

 alighting on the water like a Gull, and it fed on some codfish-liver thrown to it. On 

 the 30th of July a fine adult female was shot by one of the party. During the preva- 

 lence of a severe gale, while they were lying in the harbor of Bras d'Or, quite a num- 

 ber came about their vessel, but none within gunshot. They flew wildly about, with 

 much grace, moving rapidly to and fro, at one time struggling with the blast, and at 

 another drifting with it, and chasing with success the smaller species of Gulls, but 



