232 BILLS OF 5EUAS. 



the bill of the common skua, the most typical and 

 powerful of the genus. 



Common Skua. 

 This bill is very strong-, coulter-shaped, hard in its 

 texture, and considerably hooked at the tip of the 

 upper mandible, though nearly straight for the greater 

 part of its length. But it is not a murderous bill or 

 a very prehensile one. It has no tooth or notch, or 

 even the sUding motion at the point which charac- 

 terises gnawing bills. Accordingly, though the 

 skuas are strong and bold birds, they do not kill 

 full-grown prey, neither are they very dexterous in 

 catching their own fish. They rob the nests of other 

 birds, and they rob the gulls of the contents of their 

 stomachs. They are, what their systematic name 

 expresses, lestri — robbers, takers of that which belongs 

 to others. They seek not the shore-bird, they seek 

 its eggs ; they seek not the sea-bird, they seek its 

 food ; and even among mankind, it has always been 

 reckoned more cowardly to attack the infants than 

 the father, and baser to injure "the means" than 

 «»penly attack the man. 



The gulls follow, as the rocks and crows of the sea, 

 fishing occasionally, but only for fry and the smaller 

 fishes, and living on carrion, mollusca, worms, and 

 " whatever thev can find." Some of them come occa- 



