ARCTIC SKUA 
69 
majority of the Skuas about them, as I spent a whole 
day in a motor-boat trying to secure a specimen 
without getting more than one shot, and indeed only 
seeing four birds altogether. The fineness of the day 
may have had something to do with it ; fishermen 
say the Skuas only appear in any numbers when it 
is rough. 
Further, they state that it is the habit of the Skua 
to chase a Gull about until the Gull passes excrement, 
which the Skua then devours, and they have given 
the Skua a fittingly opprobrious name. My informant 
told me that he was quite certain the Gull does not 
disgorge the food when chased by the Skua. I have 
on more than one occasion seen a Skua hotly pursuing 
a Gull, but never saw what ultimately happened. 
The earliest and latest dates of my own records of 
the Skua are November 17th (Mud Island) and 
February 13th (off Osborne House) ; I must, however, 
add that I had it on good authority that several were 
seen following the steamer on Eight Hours' Day 
(April 2 1 St), 191 3. This, it will be seen, cuts the time 
within which the Skuas have to cross to the Northern 
Hemisphere, rear a brood, and return with the young 
down to a fairly short period. 
PIED OYSTER-CATCHER 
Hcematopus ostralegus longirostris 
The magnificent stretch of sandy shore which runs 
with a few rocky interruptions from Port Phillip 
