■NORTH AMERICAN DIRDS. 25 



The Skua Gull may well be called the feathered pirate of the seas. It does not 

 congregate in flocks; two or more pairs are seldoni seen together. It is noted for its 

 courage and daring, attacking and harassing gulls, forcing them to disgorge the fish 

 ■which they have swallowed. In the Island of Unst, and also Foula, the most north- 

 em ones of the Shetland group, it is found breeding. The bird was given a place in 

 the fauna of North America on the ground of its occasional occurrence along the 

 southern coast of Greenland, where its eggs are said to have been taken. In Iceland 

 this Species builds its nest on the hillsides in the latter part of June. The nest is 

 simply a shallow cavity in the long grass, lined tfith grkss stems and moss. The 

 eggs are two in number, with an olive-green or drab ground-color, marked by irregu- 

 lar dark olive-brown and chocolate-colored blotches; they measure from 2.75 to 3.00 

 in length, by 1.50 to 2.00 in breadth. 



36. FOIVCABINE JAEGEK. Stercorarius pomwrirms (Temm.) Geog. Dist. — 

 Seas and inland waters of northern portions of Northern Hemisphere, south to 

 Africa and Australia, and probably South America. Not known to occur in winter 

 on the Atlantic coast of North America north of Long Island. 



Another of the falcon-like sea fowls, commonly called Gull Hunter by the fisher- 

 men. Resident throughout the summer in high northern regions, chiefly within the 

 Arctic Circle. Mr. Nelson states that they are abundant off the Tukon mouth in 

 spring, but at all seasons they 

 are rare near Saint Michael'^. 

 During the cruise of the Cor- 

 win he found them abundant 

 about Saint Lawrence Island 

 and everywhere in Bering 

 Strait. In winter it is a great 

 wanderer, and is known to oc- 

 cur on the Great Lakes, and as 

 far as the above habitat indi- 

 cates. The bird is said tb live 

 chiefly by plundering the Kit- 

 tiwake Gull; but will attack 

 other species, even the largest. 

 Nelson says the birds are clumsy and cowardly as compared with their smaller rela^ 

 lives. When one of this species chances to cross the path of the smaller species, the 

 latter almost invariably gives chase and beats its clumsy antagonist off the field by 

 repeatedly darting down from above. Comparatively little is known of its nesting 

 habits. It breeds in remote places, and is said to form a rude nest of grass and 

 moss, situated on dry elevated spots in marshes. The eggs of all the Skuas are very 

 similar in appearance — pale olive-green or yellowish-gray in ground color — irregu- 

 larly blotched and spotted with two shades of brown; those of the present species are 

 said to be thinner in form and more pointed than those of the others. Dr. Brewer 

 describes an egg procured in Greenland as rounded-ovoid; its ground-color, deep 

 olive-drab, sparingly spotted with slate-color and two shades of umber, chiefly at the 

 larger end, where they become confluent. There are also a very few scattered dots 

 of black. Size, 2.25 by 1.70. 



37. PARASITIC JAEGEB,. Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Northern part of Northern Hemisphere, southward in winter to South Africa and 



36. PoMAKlNE Jaeger 



