Order LARIFOBMES 
Nc. 156. 
Family CATHARAGTIDM. 
STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS. 
ARCTIC SKUA. 
(Plate 124.)* 
Laeijs parasiticus Lirme, Syst. Nat.^, 10th ed., p. 136, 1758 ; coast of Sweden. 
Larus pirasiticus Linne, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 136, 1758. 
Lestris parasita Middendorff, Sibirische Reise, Vol. II., p. 241, 1851. 
Lestris parasiticus Hutton, Cat. Birds New Zeal., pp. 40, 77, 1871. 
Lestris lougicaudus Pinsch, Journ. flir Ornith. 1872, p. 241. 
Stercorarius parasiticus Buller, Birds New Zeal., p. 268, 1873 ; id., Trans. New Zeal. 
Inst. 1874, Vol. VII., p. 225, 1875; id., ib. 1877, Vol. X., p. 200, 1878; Stejneger, 
Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No.* 29, p. 86, 1885; id., Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. X., 
p. 124, 1887 ; Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVII., p. 498, 1910. 
Lestris (sp.) Buller, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1878, Vol. XI., p. 355, 1879. 
Lestris richardsoni {parasiticus) Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 65, 1883. 
Stercorarius crepidatus Legge, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm. 1886, p. 243, 1887 ; Buller, Birds 
New Zeal., 2nd ed., Vol. II., p. 66, 1888 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 22, 
1888 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 327, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds 
Austr., p. 91, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p, 867, 1901 ; Buller, 
Suppl. Birds New Zeal., Vol. I., p. 171, 1905 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 91, 1906 ; 
Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 22, 1908 ; Littler Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 156 ; 
1910 ; Bahr, Ibis 1912, p. 286. 
Catharacta parasitica Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 213, 1912. 
Distribution. Arctic and subarctic zones of the Holarctic Region; Siberia, south to 
Tasmania and South Australia. 
Adult {dark phase). General colour above and below sooty-black with white shafts to 
the primary-quills ; the lanceolate feathers on the sides of the neck rufous-brown , 
nostril-plumes dull white ; bill brownish horn-colour, tip black ; tarsi ^d toes 
black. Total length 525 mm. ; culmen 32, wing 333, tail 212, tarsus 5o\ 
Adult {light phase). Differs from the dark phase in having the breast and abdomen dull 
white like the sides of the head ; cheeks, throat, and fore-neck pale brown ; hind- 
neck pale brown with straw-coloured shaft-streaks. 
Immature male. Dark brown above, the small coverts along the edge of the wing 
margined with fulvous, the head and neck all round very similar in colour, which 
* The Plate is lettered Stercorarius crepidatus. 
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