GREAT SKUA. 
91 
Adult in Winter. — Mr. Saunders considers that there is scarcely 
any difference between the winter and summer plumages, and 
in the series in the British Museum there is scarcely any 
perceptible difference in colour, except when the plumage is 
worn, and then the pointed straw-coloured feathers of" the 
neck become more prominent. 
Youngr Birds. — According to Mr. Saunders, these are very 
similar to the adults, but have less tendency to acuraination 
and striation of the feathers of the neck, and show somewhat 
rufous margins to the feathers of the mantle. 
Nestling-. — Covered with buffish-grey down ; more ruddy on 
the upper surface. 
Range in Great Britain. — The Great Skua is an expiring species 
with us._ From its predatory habits, it has been marked out for 
destruction ; but the desire of collectors to possess its eggs has 
probably done more to contribute to its extermination than 
any other cau.se. It is rarely seen on the coasts of England 
and Scotland during winter, and its breeding-places are now 
confined to the Shetlands, where two small colonies exist on 
Unst and Foula, where the birds are ]irotected. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The breeding-range of the 
Great Skua is now restricted to a few localities. It nests in 
the Faeroes, in Iceland, and has been said to breed in North 
America, on some islands to the north of Hudson Strait. It 
occurs occasionally in South Greenland and off the coast of 
Norway ; and wanders in winter as far as the Mediterranean, 
and, in North America, to the coast of New England. 
Hahits.— The following note is taken from Mr. Saunders’s 
account of the habits of this species in his edition of Yarrell’s 
“British Birds ” (vol. iii. p. 665) “ There is no difficulty in 
finding the nests, as the parent birds attack any intruder upon 
their domain with fierce and repeated swoops. tV’hen handling 
the nestling, 1 found their assaults were unremitting ; first one 
bird and then the other wheeling short, and coming down at 
full speed, almost skimming the ground. At about fifteen 
yards’ distance, the strong clawed feet are lowered and held 
stiffly out, producing for the moment a very ungainly appear- 
ance, and it seems as if the bird would strike the observer full 
in the centre of the body, but on quickly raising the hand or 
