STERCORARIUS SKUA : SKUA JAEGER. 343 



Fam. LARID^: Jaegers, Gulls, Terns and 

 Skimmers. 



SKUA JAEGER. 

 Stercorarius skua {Briinn.) Coues. 



Chars. Bill shorter than middle toe without its claw ; tarsus 

 shorter than middle toe and claw. Central rectrices broad to the 

 tip, little projecting beyond the rest. Very large ; length about 

 24.00 ; wing, 17.00 ; tail, 6.00 ; tarsus, 2.75 ; middle toe and claw, 

 3.00 ; bill about 2.00, its depth at base 0.75. Plumage above 

 blackish-brown, varied with chestnut and whitish ; throat and 

 sides of neck yellowish-brown, streaked with white ; below, fusco- 

 rufous, with an ashy shade ; quills blackish, with white shafts 

 and a conspicuous large white area at base ; tail-feathers 

 blackish, white at the base ; very old birds are much darker and 

 more uniform brown, almost blackish above, rather smoky- 

 brown below. 



Though allowed a place in the New England list for 

 many years, upon more or less unsatisfactory evidence, 

 •this species was with many others eliminated in 1875 by 

 Dr. Brewer, with the remark : " This, it is now generally 

 conceded, has no claim to be placed in the avi-fauna of 

 New England. Except as accidental in Greenland, it is 

 not even North American " (Pr. Bost. Soc, xvii, 1875, p. 

 453). But this statement is too sweeping. Dr. Brewer 

 himself has the pleasure of correcting it, in recording 

 the capture of a specimen on the Georges fishing banks, 

 off the Massachusetts coast, in July, 1878 (Bull. Nutt. 

 Club, iii, 1878, p. 188). This specimen was brought into 

 Gloucester, and examined by Prof. Baird. 



