26 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Doctor Nelson (1887) " saw a jaeger swoop down at a duck paddling 

 quietly on the surface of a pond, and the latter went flapping away 

 in mortal terror, while the jaeger passed on, probably highly pleased 

 at giving the duck such a fright." Mr. Turner (1886) says : 



Should one of their kind be shot and slightly wounded the others will gather 

 around it, and if not frightened away will soon dispatch their comrade. 



Mr. Hersey's notes on the long-tailed jaeger at St. Michael state: 



I have found this jaeger to be more peaceable and less given to chasing the 

 gulls than the parasitic. I have seen as many as five or six of this species and 

 a dozen or more short-billed gulls feeding in company on the refuse from the. 

 hotel, which had been put on a scow to be carried out into the bay and dumped ; 

 each bird paid no heed to his companions and there was no quarreling. The 

 small shore birds and longspurs seem to regard him as an enemy, however, 

 and follow him about over the tundra whenever one appears. Both this and 

 the parasitic jaeger show caution when among a flock of glaucous gulls, and 

 I have never seen them attempt to molest one of these large birds. At times 

 they bother the little Sabine's gulls. 



Mr. Frank C. Hennessey, who has sent me his notes on the birds 

 of Winter Harbor, says, on the other hand, that " they tyrannize 

 all others of their tribe, including the snowy owl, and make known 

 their presence by successions of sharp but not discordant cries. These 

 birds, considering their size, are quite able to fight for and defend 

 themselves, particularly when any intruder may happen to encroach 

 on the locality in which their nest is situated; in such a case they 

 have been known to even attack the Arctic fox." 



Mr. A. L. V. Manniche (1910) writes : 



Not rarely I observed falcons pursued by skuas (Lestris longicauda) . At 

 the end of August the young skuas will frequently be sitting around on stones, 

 still cared for by their parents, which with extreme violence will guard their 

 offspring against attack from falcons. The skuas exceed by far the gyrfalcons 

 in ability of flight, and the falcons therefore always wish to escape the pursuit 

 and retire to the rocks. Most frequently three or four, skuas would join in an 

 attack. The battle would usually be fought out immensely high up in the air. 



Mr. Walter H. Kich has contributed the following notes on the 

 behavior of jaegers on the fishing banks among the shearwaters: 



Both yagers and skuas bully the " hags," dropping on their backs as often as 

 these latter are found enjoying a dainty bit. The yagers fight and quarrel 

 much among themselves also. On several occasions the writer saw them clinch 

 in the air to f^ll 20 or 30 feet, striking and clawing all the while. Only rarely 

 do they annoy the skuas, and then somewhat carefully, usually in breezy 1 

 weather, when they may the more easily escape consequences through their 

 superior abilities in maneuvering; less often still do they trouble the large 

 gulls, as the "black backs." Of the latter species I saw one in the brown 

 plumage, when weaving his dignified flight through a cloud of " kittiwakes,V 

 turn suddenly to shoot upward and seize a long-tailed yager by the flank, 

 bringing away a mouthful of feathers with a wicked side wrench of his head, 

 causing the victim to squeal in angry indignation and put on full power ahead! 



