72 
THE POMARINE SKUA, 
possessed of great powers of flight, and range over a vast area, 
their utmost northern range is 82° N. lat., from thence they 
extend as far south as Cape York, in Australia, Alaska and 
Pennsylvania, in America, they also occur in Africa and in Japan. 
Middendorf found them breeding in Siberia, and they are also 
believed to breed in Greenland. 
It is very singular that a large proportion of the specimens 
obtained had the centre tail feathers broken, and broken shorter j 
in some cases, by an inch or more than the other tail feathers, 
which latter were quite perfect. The only way I can account for 
this is by supposing that these feathers are broken by the tail being 
violently rubbed on the ground when fully expanded. The outline 
of the tail would then be a semi-circle, and the central radii of 
the arc could then be rubbed or broken off shorter than the rest, 
without these latter being injured. I may add that I have seen 
feathers so broken in poultry. 
