SKUA. 
PARASITIC GULL. 
Megalestris skua. 
Char. Upper parts sooty brown, varied with reddish brown and dull 
white, the nape spotted with buff , wings and tail brown, shading to 
white at the base, which on the wing forms a conspicuous patch when in 
flight ; under parts paler brown, the breast varied with rufous c bill, legs, 
and feet, black. Length about 22 inches. 
Nest. On an inaccessible ocean island ; a hollow pressed in the moss 
and sparsely lined with grass and a few feathers. 
Eggs. 1-3 (usually 2) ; pale to dark buff or huffish brown, sometimes 
with a slight tinge of olive, marked with darker brown and gray ; average 
size about 2.80 X 2.00. 
This Sea-Falcon, with raptorial beak and claws, and Hawk -like 
quality of character, — preying upon the weak and the small of its 
own race, robbing those it cannot kill, and by way of individuality 
adding to its relish for flesh and fish a partiality for eggs, — this 
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