Dr Fleminsr Afctic and Sima Gidls. 99 
tyhole bulk, that they appear to be incapable of diving. Only 
two species have been determined as natives of Great Britain. 
1. C. VULGARIS. Common Skua. Plumage brown, tail 
feathers nearly equal, length 25 inches, breadth fr an 55 to 
58 inches, weight from 48 to 54 ounces. 
English synonymes — Skua- gull, Brozm-gidt. Scottish syno- 
nymes — Sea-eagle, Skua, Skui, Bonxie. 
Willoughby, Ornithologia, p. 265. 
Sibbald, Scotia Illustrata, ii. lib. 3. p. 20, tab. xiv. f. 2. 
Ray, Synopsis Avium, p. 128. 
Linnaeus, Sy sterna Naturae, 76, 11. 
Pennant, British Zoology, ii. p. 52.9. No. 24-S. 
The bill is two inches and a quarter in length, and of a brownish 
black colour. The upper mandible is rounded along the margin to- 
wards the base : a little prominent in front of the nostrils above, 
and bent downwards at the end like the hawks. The under man- 
dible is bent inwards at the edges ; at the apex it forms a gutter, 
sloping downwards ; at the base it is grooved laterally ; and at the 
junction of the two sides beneath, there is an angular prominence. 
The eyes are surrounded with a narrow bare black orbit, and the 
irides are hazel brown. The legs are covered with large black 
scales. The claws are strong, of a black colour, arched and groov- 
ed beneath. ' 
The plumage on the upper parts is dark rusty brown, with yel- 
lowish-white oblong dusky spots. Each feather is dusky brown 
on the edges, and yellowish- white at the end near the shaft. The 
plumage below is lighter coloured, and on the belly it is tinged 
with ash-grey. The feathers on the neck are wiry and pointed, 
and have a narrow oil-green spot on the extremity. The wings 
reach to the point of the tail. The shafts of the quills are white. 
The outer web, and the extremity of the first, deep brown ; the tips 
only of the rest, brown ; the remaining part, towards the base, is 
white. The coverts of a few of the secondaries are white. The 
tail-feathers, which are twelve in number, are blunt ; the shafts, and 
the webs at the base, are white ; towards the extremity the webs are 
brown. 
There is no difference between the sexes, either in colour or size, 
in those which we have examined *. It does not appear to be sub- 
ject to much variation of plumage with age or seasons. Some indi- 
viduals have been found having the chin and forehead tinged with 
ash- colour. 
Willoughby is the first British writer who has taken any no- 
tice of this bird. His description is drawn up with his usual 
minuteness and accuracy. He errs, however, in considering it 
as the same with the Cornish Gannet or Solan Goose. 
* We have remarked, that the plumage of the female is darker than that of 
