AUSTEALIAN SKUA. 
Captain Hutton* says : “ Sometimes the feathers of the back of the neck are finely 
streaked with pale yellow ; but usually they are of a uniform brown.” 
Immature. Uniform brownish-black on the upper surface ; the lower, uniform brownish- 
grey ; the white bases of the primary-quills extensive. 
Nestling in dawn. Smoky-grey, darker above and paler below. 
Nest. None : a shallow depression (Wilson). 
Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour dark stone, sparingly marked with blotches of 
brown, and a few dark grey ones round the middle ; axis 76 mm., diameter 52. 
Breeding-season. November (Chatham Island) (Macquarie Island). 
“ Every voyager to and from Australia, whether by the Cape of Good Hope 
or Cape Horn, will observe that in aU the higher latitudes, the ship will be 
frequently visited by solitary examples of this Gull, which may be dis- 
tinguished from the Albatross and Petrels by its more flapping and heavier 
mode of flight, and by the white mark on the wing, which shows conspicuously 
when seen from beneath. It appears, however, to be attracted to the ship 
more from curiosity than from aught else, for after passing round it two or 
three times, it wings its way again over the expansive ocean until lost to 
sight ; it is as often seen a thousand miles from land as it is near the coast, 
and I was for a long time surprised how a bird of this family could exist so 
far from any apparent means of repose, until the difficulty was at last solved 
by my seeing the bird settle on the masses of sea-weeds, which here and 
there float about in all seas, and on which it rested with as much ease as if 
standing on a rock ... It was nowhere more abundant than ofl the coast 
of Tasmania, and may be frequently seen in Storm Bay at the mouth of 
the Derwent. 
“We obtained six examples of Megalestris antarctica from the Macquarie 
Islands, but unfortunately none from the Aucklands, where the birds appeared 
to be even darker and larger than they were in the Macquarie Islands. We 
found it nesting in the latter islands on November 22nd, 1901. Each nest 
contained two eggs, laid merely on the ground, with rarely a few bents lining 
a shallow depression. The birds not only threatened to attack those who 
interfered with them, but also occasionally attempted to draw them away 
by feigning an inability to fly. They live here as Skuas do elsewhere, largely 
by harassing other birds till they disgorge. We saw one dipping at a whale- 
bird {Prion). Fear was a thing apparently unknown to them, for in the open 
ocean we watched them chasing even the largest Albatrosses, and no sooner did 
the sailing flight of the Skua change for its bee-line stoop, than the Albatross 
would immediately drop to the water, there to remain until either its tormentor 
was gone, or the coveted food in its stomach had passed beyond recall. 
*lUs, p. 248, 1872. 
I Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 389, 1865. 
VOL. II. 
485 
