Oedek GAVI^.J 
[Fam. LAKID^. 
STEECOEARIUS CEEPIDATUS. 
(RICHARDSON^S SKUA.) 
Lams crepidatus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. G02 (1788). 
Stercomrius crepidatus, Vieill. N. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. xxxii. p. 155 (1819). 
Lestris ricliardsonii, Swains. Fauna Bor.-Am. p. 4.33, pi. 73 (1831). 
Lestris parasiticus^ Bonap. Consp. Av. ii. p. 208 (1857, nee Linn.). 
Lestris longicaudata, Finsch, J. £ O. 1872, p. 126 (nee Briss.). 
Stercorarius parasiticus, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 1st ed. p. 268 (1873, nec Linn.). 
Ad. (exempl. ex N. Z.) suprk cinerascenti-brunneus, teetricibus alarum saturatioribus, supracaudalibus exterioribus 
versus basin albicantibus : pileo summo pallidius brunneo, plumis albicante obsolete terminatis : facie 
laterali, gula et collo postico albis, plumis versus apicem brunnescentibus : corpore reliquo subtds albo, 
liypochondriis cum crisso et subcaudalibus cinerascenti-bruimeo lavatis ; subalaribus et axillaribus cinera- 
sccuti-brunneis : remigibus brunneis, extus nigricantibus, iiitus ad basin albidis, scapis brunnescenti-albis, 
exteriorum pure albis, secundariis intimis dorso concoloribus : cauda saturate brunne^ : rostro saturate 
brunneo ; pedibus cinerascenti-nigris : iride nigra. 
Ad. Crown, nape, and sides of the head dull greyish brown ; neek all round, breast, and sides of the body 
greyish white ; shoulders, and all the npper surfaee, dark olivaeeous grey of different shades ; primaries 
and tail-feathers blackish brown, the former with white shafts ; inner surface of wings, axillary plumes, and 
abdomen ashy grey tinged with brown ; some of the under tail-coverts uniform ashy grey, others white 
barred with grey. Irides black ; bill dark brown ; tarsi and toes greyish black, the claws darker. Length 
16'5 inches ; extent of wings 38; wing, from flexure, 11‘75 ; tail 5'5 ; bill, along the ridge 1‘2, along the 
edge of lower mandible 1'7 ; bare tibia '5 ; tarsus 1‘6; middle toe and claw 1'6. 
Young (N.-Z. example) . General upper surface blackish brown, more or less varied with pale brown and fulvous, 
many of the feathers having pale margins ; crown of the head and hind neck brownish grey, the former with 
narrow linear black markings, and the hind neck washed with fulvous brown ; the edges of the wings 
speckled with uFite ; the upper tail-coverts fulvous wFite, each feather with two broad irregular bars of 
brownish black ; primaries brownish black with white shafts, also white on their inner webs towards the 
base ; tail-feathers brownish black, perceptibly darker towards the tips, and pure white at the base under 
the coverts ; entire nnder surfaee greyish white, thickly speckled and freckled on the fore neck, breast, and 
abdomen with brown ; the axillary plumes, the sides of the body, and the under tail-coverts washed more or 
less with fulvons, and marked with broad, transverse, somewhat unequal, bars of blackish brown. Bill 
greyish black ; legs and feet brownish black, with a conspicuous yellow spot towards the base of the inner 
interdigital web. 
Obs. In the adult example described above, the two middle tail-feathers are being reproduced, and present a 
remarkable denuded appearance (see woodcut in Trans. N.-Z. Inst. vol. xi. p. 358). In the young bird the 
tail-feathers are broad and acuminate, the two middle ones extending about half an inch beyond the rest. 
The above description of the adult is taken from an example shot by myself on the sea-beach at 
Horowhenua, in the provincial district of Wellington, on the 30th of April, 1864, and presented to 
the Colonial Museum with the rest of my original collection. 
When I published my former edition this was the only known instance of its occurrence in New 
