170 THE OENITHOLOGIST. 



attracts notice in passing through a valley, and as they rise and 

 plunge together with splendid swooping flight, their long, thin 

 wings and elongated tail-feathers are very noticeable ; their 

 swooping is accompanied by the wild " yi-hoo, yi-hoo," and their 

 dashing flight quickly carries them again beyond our reach. 

 When standing, the Skua keeps his body parallel with the 

 ground, and his thickly-set neck erect ; he walks slowly, and his 

 short legs give him a low, dumpy appearance. He occasionally 

 rests on the surface of a loch, and in such a position his back 

 is not so level as a Gull's, but humped. He cannot dive; but 

 he splashes about vigorously when bathing, repeatedly flutter- 

 ing his wings and lowering his head, and assuming fantastic 

 attitudes as he performs his toilet. He sits lightly, but not 

 peacefully ; he is constantly rolling about and preening his 

 feathers, and, at short intervals, bounds from the surface a few 

 inches with wings outspread upwards, and settles again ; some- 

 times he rises higher and vibrates his wings rapidly to cast off 

 superfluous water from his feathers, and, circling on motionless 

 wings, descends to the loch again, allowing the tips of his 

 outstretched wings at one time to touch the water before he 

 closes them, and keeping them at another time at an upward 

 angle as he settles. 



Gulls and Terns chiefly are subjected to the Skua's piratical 

 practices, and the Arctic Tern is the most harassed of all. 

 The agility of this little bird in avoiding swoop after swoop of 

 the Skua is delightful to behold, and it generally enables him to 

 foil his would-be robber in the end. From no bird does the 

 Skua readily procure spoil when attacking singly; and the fre- 

 quency with which we have seen his attacks successfully 

 evaded, have led us occasionally to think he would have fared 

 better had he fished for himself ; but as they generally hunt in 

 twos or in threes, and swoop in turn upon their victim, they 

 quickly compel him to disgorge, and, fluttering down after the 

 rejected food, seize whatever each can of the spoil. 



The parasitic nature of the Skua — the reasons for it, and the 

 extent to which it is carried — forms one of the most interesting 

 questions regarding our native bird life; a question, however, 

 we are not qualified to discuss. We have observed the adult 

 Skua in its nesting haunts picking up food — probably spiders — 



