Auks, 



Gulls, 



and Plovers 



421 



Of tie Skua-gulls there are several species. Their coloration differs from that of the 

 gulls just descnbed m being confined to shades of brown. One of their most remarkable 

 tiaits IS that o piracy. Tliey await their cousins tlie Gulls coming shoreward from the sea 

 with newly swallowed fish, and then, giving chase, compel the gull, in order to lighten itself 

 and escape to disgorge its hard-won meal. So swift of flight is the skua that the ejected morsel 

 is caught before it reaches the water. 



/■%* 



T^iH^J • 



I'liutu Ijii C. ^'. Mai-roiioii} 



WOODCOCK. 



The female is lai''er than the male. 



[St'tiyrna. 



THE PLOTER TraBE. 

 Birds of very various size, 

 shape, and coloration are included - 



in this group— that is to say, 

 birds which vary much super- 

 ficially, but, it must be under- 

 stood, all undoubtedly closely 

 related. In England they are 

 to be met with almost every- 

 where. The seashore, the lonely 

 moorland, the desolate marshes, 

 the river's brink, or the woods — 

 all these shelter some one or 

 other of the Plover Tribe. Like 

 the Gulls, many adopt a dis- 

 tinctive dress for the courting- 

 season, which, however, is some- 

 times worn by the males only, 

 and not by both sexes alike, 

 as in the Gulls. One of the 

 most striking and familiar 

 instances of this change is seen 

 in the Geey Plover. In winter 

 the plumage of the upper-parts 

 of this bird is dusky grey, that of 

 the under-parts pure white ; but 

 in the spring the former is ex- 

 changed for a beautifully varie- 

 gated mantle of black and white, 

 and the latter becomes uniformly 

 jet-black, save the under tail- 

 coverts, which remain white. 



In the DuNLLN', again, we 

 have a similar change, the 

 upper-jiarts being in winter grey, 

 the under-parts white : in the 

 sj)ring the former become black, 



with an admixture of rust-colour, and the latter black in so far as the breast is concerned, 

 but the abdomen remains white. 



In many of that section of the Plover Tribe distinguished as " Wading-birds," the changes 

 which take place in the spring in the plumage of the upper-parts resemble those already 

 instanced, but the under-parts turn to a rich chestnut instead of black. This occurs in the 

 forms known as the Godwits, Knots, and Sanderlings, for example. 



In all the instances so far quoted, both male and female are coloured alike, but, as already 

 hinted, occasionally the change of i^lumage affects the male only. This is the case with the 



Photo hij A. H. P. Cruu-lcshiutk] 



OYSTER-CATOHEE ON ITS NEST. 



[Wdlinfiton. 



Three eggs are laid in a siiglit hollow in the -ground. The oyster-catcher ia one of tlit 

 wary of the Plover Tribe, and very difficult to approach. 



