fOMATORHINE SKUA. 
53 
In its mode of capturing prey the Great Skua is almost 
Accipitrine in its habits, and lives chiefly upon the toil of the 
smaller Gulls, which it follows with fierce pertinacity, and 
compels them to disgorge the fish they have captured ; nor, if 
one of their number is wounded or in distress, will it hesitate 
to pursue and seize it. For this reason it is almost as much 
dreade d as a Peregrine or other bird of prey. 
Nest. — A hollow in the moss on the upland moors, with 
sometimes a bit of grass as a lining. 
Egg’S. — Two, sometimes only one, laid in May and June. 
The ground-colour is dark chocolate-brown or olive-brown, so 
dark that the spots do not stand out in bold contrast, the spots 
bein^^ generally of a reddish-brown colour, sometimes very 
faint° and at others inclining to blackish, especially when they 
become confluent at the large end of the egg. Axis, 2 -5 5-2 -9 
inches; diam., i’85-i'95. 
THE SMALL SKUAS. GENUS STERCORARIUS. 
Stenorarius, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 149 
Type, probably S. creptdatus (Banks). 
The genus Stcrcoranus comprises a few species of much 
smaller size than the members of the genus Megakstris, though 
they are equally parasitic in their habits, and are armed with 
equally fierce talons, and the accipitrine cere of the Great 
Skuas. The central tail-feathers are elongated beyond the 
others to the extent of three inches at least, and often to a 
length of eight or nine inches. The tarsus is distinctly shorter 
than the middle toe and its claw. (Cf. Saunders, Cat. B. Brit. 
Mus. XXV. p. 314-) „ . , 
Three species of the smaller Skuas are known, all of them 
Arctic in their habitat, ranging south in winter, one of them, 
S. pomatofhinus, wandering at that season of the year into 
the southern oceans. 
I. THE POMATORHINE SKUA. STERCORARIUS POMATORHINUS. 
Lestris pomari?ia/Ye^Yam. Man. d’Orn. p. 5^4 Macgill. 
Brit. B. V. p. 487 (1852); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part 
xxi. (1892). 
