66 JAEGERS AND SKUAS. 



coast, and more rarely through the Great Lakes, and winters from Long Island 

 southward. 



Long Island, regular from June 15 to Oct. 30. Sing Sing, A. V. 



Nest, on the ground. Eggs., two to three, deep olive-drab sparingly spot- 

 ted with slate color, and light and dark raw-umber markings and black dots, 

 chiefly at the larger end, where they become confluent, 2-25 x 1'70 (Brewer). 



37. Stercora/Tius parasiticus {Linn.). Parasitic Jaeger (see 

 Fig. 6, a). Ad..^ light phase. — Back, wings, and tail slaty fuscous ; top of the 

 head and lores nearly black ; sides of the head and back of the neck straw- 

 yellow, this color sometimes spreading down the sides of the neck and on 

 the throat ; breast and belly white ; sides of the breast, flanks, lower belly, 

 and crissum slaty fuscous ; tarsi and feet (in dried specimens) black ; middle 

 tail-feathers pointed and extending about S'OO beyond the others. Ad,.., darlc 

 phase. — Entire plumage dark, slaty brown, darker on the top of the head ; 

 under parts slightly lighter; sometimes a trace of straw-yellow on the sides 

 and back of the neck ; tarsi, feet, and tail as in the preceding. Im., light 

 phase.— V-p-per parts, wings, and tail fuscous; the feathers of the back, neck, 

 and head more or less bordered, tipped, or barred with bufty ; hind-neck and 

 head sometimes huffy, streaked or barred with fuscous, and varying from 

 this color to plain fuscous; longer, lateral upper tail-coverts barrec' with 

 buft'y ; tail bufty, whitish at the base ; under wing-coverts barred with bu:''_, ; 

 under parts white, washed with buffy, and in'egularly barred with sooty 

 fuscous ; these bars sometimes very numerous when the under parts looked 

 a.s if washed with sooty fuscous; again, they may be less numerous and con- 

 fined to the breast and aides, leaving the belly white; central tail-feathers 

 pointed, projecting more or less beyond the rest. Im., dari phase.— Sooty fus- 

 cous, the feathers, particularly on the under parts, more or less marked with 

 ochraeeous-buff. L., 17-00; "W., 13-00: T., Ad., 8-60, Im., 6-4a; B., 1-15. 



Memarhs. — This species closely resembles jS'. longicaudus. Adults of both 

 species, whether in the dark or light phase of plumage, may always bo dis- 

 tinguished from each other by the diff'erence in the length of their central 

 tail-feathers, in addition to the characters given in the key. Young birds 

 can not be distinguished by color, but may be identified by the diff'erences in 

 relative proportions of the bill. 



Range. — " Northern parts of the northern-hemisphere, southward in win- 

 ter to South Africa and South America" (A. O. U.). In America breeds 

 in the Barren Grounds and Greenland ; migrates southward through the Great 

 Lakes and along the Atlantic coasts, and winters from the Middle States 

 southward. 



Long Island, regular from June 15 to Oct. 30. 



Nest, on the moors or tundras, a slight depression in the ground scantily 

 lined with grasses, etc., or on rocks by the sea. Eggs, two to four, light olive- 

 brown, with frequently a strong greenish tinge and chocolate markings, more 

 numerous and sometimes confluent at the larger end, 2-25 x 1-65. 



38. Stercorarius longicaudus Vieill. Long-tailed Jaeger. 

 Ad., light phase. — Back, wings, and tail slaty fuscous ; top of head and lores 

 nearly black ; sides of the head, back and sides of the neck straw-yellow ; 



