POMARINE SKUA. 
265 
said- to attack man when he enters upon their pre- 
cincts. Mr. Thompson has noticed it on the Irish 
coast. Mr. Yarrell has occasionally procured speci- 
mens in the London market. The more proper 
territory of the Skua is, however, northward ; it 
is found in the Faroe Islands, Norway and Ice- 
land,* Nova Zemhla and Spitzbergen. + On the 
opposite hemisphere we have several authorities for 
it being found in the Straits of Magellan, and the 
Falkland Isles ; we have not, however, seen speci- 
mens from these latter regions. 
The Skua is a powerfully made bird, little inferior 
in size to the lesser black-backed gull, but of a 
thicker and stronger make. Tho ground colour of 
the plumage may be said to be shades of clove- 
brown, the feathers in the centre yellowish and 
reddish brown ; on the head and neck the feathers 
are pointed and the yellowish brown prevails on 
the sides and auriculars ; on the lower parts the 
ground tint is paler, and in the centre the reddish 
brown prevails ; the secondaries, quills, and tail 
are nearly brownish black, the base of the quills 
with their shafts white ; the tail is rounded ; legs 
and feet black, front of the tarsi irregularly scaled, 
the other parts with small prominent rounded or 
oval scales, rough to the touch, and reminding us of 
the fish-hawks. 
The Pomarine Skua, Lestris pomarinus. — 
Lestris pomarinus , Stercoraire pomarine, Temm. 
* Selby. + Yarrell. 
