232 Order XIV 



there appears to be little or no room. A picture of 

 Kittiwakes on their nests, therefore, shews the sitting 

 birds almost clear of the chfE. The eggs are greyish- 

 white, stone-coloured, or Ught-brown, richly marked 

 with brown and grey of various shades; they are much 

 prettier than those of ordinary Gulls, and do not so often 

 tend to a green ground-coloiu". This species is found 

 locally all round our coasts, and is rarely driven inland by 

 storms ; abroad it breeds in Brittany (with the Channel 

 Islands), and thence to the Faeroes, Iceland, and all the 

 circumpolar regions, if we do not separate a very doubt- 

 fully valid form in Bering Sea, and allow for a reaUy 

 distinct species in the north Pacific Ocean. In some 

 respects the Kittiwake recalls a Tern, for it dives and 

 swims under water in a way that few Gulls attempt, 

 while the flight is more wavering, and it has a distinct 

 habit of hovering. A black band near the end of a 

 Gull's taU is a sign of immaturity. 



Family STBROORARIID-^, or Skuas 



Of late years a great deal has been heard of the Great 

 Skua [Catharacta skua), on account of the necessity 

 for its preservation in Shetland, where alone in Britain 

 it breeds. It is a large and heavy dark brown bird with 

 a tendency to yellow on the neck and a little white on 

 the back and wing ; it lays its two duU ohve eggs with 

 darker spots and blotches in hollows which it scoops 

 out in the coarse grass and short heather on the tops of 

 the hills. If a visitor approaches the colony the parents 

 swoop down upon him from the front, apparently 

 aiming at his face ; just before reaching him, however, 

 they drop their feet and rise above his head. Probably 

 he may have raised his arm or a stick, which helps to 



