the head of anyone intruding near their nests, always 

 coming up from behind the person they mob. The 

 sound made by their swoop resembles the noise made 

 by the passing of a small shot ; and not knowing the bird 

 is coming up from behind, one is quite startled at their 

 first stoop. 



" These Skuas bully all Gulls which pass near their 

 breeding-places, but in turn are themselves hustled by 

 any Peewits near whose young they happen to pass, and 

 it is a quaint sight to see a Skua on the ground being 

 buffeted by a pair of Peewits. 



" The lig-bt and dark forms of this Skua were about 

 equal in number, perhaps the former were a little more 

 numerous, but both light and dark birds interpair ; in 

 the only instance in which I could be certain, the dark 

 bird was the female. 



" I am happy to say these birds are strictly preserved 

 in the locality to which I refer." 



My own acquaintance with Richardson's Skua is 

 confined to the open sea off the coasts of Spain and 

 Italy. In the Gulf of Gaeta, in the month of March 

 1875, I noticed some ten or more of these birds in 

 varying plumage busily engaged in bullying and chasing 

 about a flock of Black-headed Gulls. 



