T.ONG-TAILED SKUA. 
:5 
the changes of plumage. When first seen it was on wing, skimming hefore a fresh northerly hreeze in a line 
with the eoast ; at length it turned head to wund and, after eircling round for a few moments, settled on the 
water; then drifting with the tide through one of the “ swashways we w'ere enabled to steam ahead and 
await its approach. The heavy swell rendering the launching of a boat a work of time, w'e w ere forced to make 
use of the “deidle,” when, just as the hird was carried within reach, a breaking sea cast it under the paddle- 
wheels, and a few moments later its lifeless body was discerned from the bridge washing over the sands. 
The immature bird figured in the Plate was shot on September 9, 187 t, near the Bass Bock. The 
specimen exhibiting a mixed plumage, after having been almost driven ashore under the West Pier at Brighton, 
was procured a short distance at sea in November 1870 ; it appears doubtful whether this bird shows one ot 
the intermediate stages, or is an adult undergoing the transformation into winter plumage. From observations 
made respecting the changes of other species of Skuas while in confinement, I am of opinion that the latter is 
most proliahly the case. 
* Small channels through the sands, not considered navigable, but occasional!}’ made use of by the tug-atcamers and fishing-craft. 
