Allen’s naturalist’s library. 
9 § 
Adult in Winter Plumage. — Mr. Saunders describes this phase of 
plumage as being similar to that of S. pomatorhhms, the winter 
dress resembling that of summer, but having a tendency to 
show striations upon the under parts, and especially on the 
flanks, W'hile the yellow on the neck is less pronounced. 
Dark Form. — On the melanistic birds of the present species 
Mr. Saunders gives the following note: — “The dark-breasted 
form is rare to the northwards of lat. 70°, beyond which the 
white-breasted one is the representative form ; but southward, 
both races are found. The colour has no relation to sex, 
and dark and light birds are constantly to be found paired. 
The offspring ot this union, ivhen adult, is intermediate in 
character, having a dusky-whitish throat, more or less of an 
ash-browm band across the breast, and a considerable amount 
of brown on the flanks. Individuals irregularly spotted with 
white are not very rare.” 
Young. — Mr. Saunders describes the offspring of tw'o white- 
breasted birds as pale cinnamon-brown on the head and under 
parts, with dark streaks and bars ; the feathers of the upper 
parts umber-brown, with rufous edges. The offspring of two 
dark birds is much darker, with greyer tips to the feathers ; 
while the offspring of one white-breasted bird and one sooly- 
bird is intermediate, as might be expected. The tarsi and 
bases of the toes are yellowish, and the front portion of the 
toes is black. 
Immature birds are streaked and mottled with various 
shades of brown on the upper surfaces ; mantle chiefly umber; 
upper tail-coverts barred with dark brown, white, and rufous ; 
under surface more or less barred with brown on a paler 
ground {Saunders). 
Nestling. — Sooty-brown above, paler on the under surface, 
the nestlings of dark parents being more dusky than those of 
the white-breasted ones. 
Characters. — The adult of Hichardson’s Skua is distinguished 
from that of the Pomatorhine Skua by its smaller size, the 
wing being less than fourteen inches," and by its long and 
tapering central tail-feathers, which often project three inches 
beyond the others. 
