788 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



of neck and upper-mantle same and tips rounded not pointed and 

 yellow ; feathers of mantle same but tips broader and whiter ; 

 upper tail-coverts broadly barred black and white ; ear-coverts, 

 sides of head and throat mottled and spotted with dark brown, 

 feathers with rounded whitish tips and white bases not entirely 

 concealed ; upper-breast with broad band of dark brown and 

 feathers of breast slightly fringed brown ; lower-breast and belly 

 white ; flanks barred dark brown ; under tail-coverts barred, 

 spotted or streaked dark brown. N.B. — No fully moulted winter 

 adult examined. 



Nestling. — Much like that of Arctic Skua but apparently paler 

 and more grey-brown and head and under-parts still greyer. N.B. 

 — Only specimen examined of certain identification was partially 

 feathered. 



Juvenile. — Varying only slightly compared with juvenile 

 Arctic Skua. Head dark brown, feathers edged grey-buff but 

 occasionally uniform, back of neck usually more grey-buff streaked 



Distal portion of tail of the Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudas). 



brown but sometimes as crown ; mantle, scapulars and back black- 

 brown, feathers tipped pale buff to grey-buff, usually more grey and 

 not so rufous or yellowish as in Arctic Skua ; upper tail-coverts 

 broadly barred black-brown and grey-white or pale buff, but occa- 

 sionally black-brown narrowly tipped buff ; sides of head and throat 

 streaked brown and grey-buff ; upper-breast brown with white 

 basal part of feathers not quite concealed ; rest of under-parts 

 whitish, heavily barred dark brown but sometimes barring confined 

 to sides, flanks and under tail-coverts and feathers of breast and 

 belly either white narrowly tipped brown or dark brown narrowly 

 tipped buff ; axillaries and under wing-coverts usually barred as 

 flanks but occasionally uniform dark brown ; tail as Arctic but 

 usually less white at base and often (but not always) with small 

 bufnsh-white tips ; primaries as Arctic but white at base of outer 

 not showing beyond primary-coverts and usually no pale tips but 

 occasionally a very slight pale edging at tip but not conspicuous as 

 in Arctic, shaft of 4th brown or pale brown ; primary-coverts 

 usually uniform, very rarely with slight buff edging at tip ; wing- 

 coverts as in Arctic but tips pale buff and lesser dark and not with 

 such broad tips and edgings as in Arctic. 



First summer. — Crown dark brown, feathers slightly edged and 



