156 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



change for its bee-line swoop than the Albatross would immedi- 

 ately drop to the water, there to remain until either its tormentor 

 was gone or the coveted food in its stomach had passed beyond 

 recall. ' ' 



The Antarctic Skua, or Sea-Hen of sailors, is more plentiful in 

 southern Tasmanian waters than in northern. As a matter of fact, 

 it is rarely seen round the northern coast. Gould records having 

 seen this species somewhat plentifully about Storm Bay, near the 

 mouth of the Derwent. Whale-Birds or Prions seem to be a 

 favourite article of diet, the unfortunate birds being swallowed 

 whole. 



The Eev. A. E. Eaton, who accompanied the British Transit 

 of Venus Expedition to Kerguelen Island, v^riting of this Skua, 

 says, inter alia : — " Every marsh near Eoyal Sound used to have 

 its pair of Skuas. Many were destroyed within a radius of four 

 miles from the ships ; and before the expedition sailed from the 

 island it was impossible to walk far without coming across dead 

 bodies of the poor creatures. The cause of this useless slaughter 

 was the menacing aspect of the birds, who swoop with fierce 

 impetuosity directly towards the face of anyone approaching their 

 domain, rising just in time to clear his head, and uttering short 

 despairing cries. They did not feign to be crippled quite so much 

 as the Skuas of Spitzbergen, but preferred intimidation as a means 

 of averting danger near their nest. When they thought they had 

 succeeded in making the enemy retreat they celebrated their 

 triumph by standing face to face upon the ground, with their wings 

 extended vertically so as to almost meet above their back, whilst 

 they chanted a paean, consisting of a dozen notes or so delivered 

 in the tones of a Carrion Crow. ... If Blue Petrels were 

 turned loose in the daytime, they were almost invariably chased 

 by Skuas and killed on the wing before they had flown half a mile. 

 Petrels of one sort or another seem to constitute the staple diet of 

 these Skuas. They hunt ioi them in the evening when it is becom- 

 ing dusk, flying rapidly along the hillside close to the ground, 

 ready to pounce upon any that they may see -emerging from the 

 mouths of their burrows. Again in the early morning they are 

 upon the wing to waylay Petrels returning late from sea." 



EICHAEDSON SKUA 



(Stercorarius crcpidatus, Banks). 



Male. — " Crown, nape, and sides of the head dull greyish- 

 brown ; neck all round, breast, and sides of the body greyish-white ; 

 shoulders and all the upper surface dark olivaceous-grey of difierent 

 shades ; primaries and tail feathers blackish-brown, the former 

 with white shafts; inner surface of wings., axillary plumes, and 

 abdomen ashy-grey, tinged with brown; some of the under tail 

 coverts uniform ashy-grey, others white barred with grey; irides 



