surface. They are, however, by no means confined to a fish diet; they devour birds and their eggs

kill small quadrupeds, and prey upon shell-fish of every kind. They will even attack young lambs hack out their eyes and brains, and, in short, prey upon everything that offers itself, whether living or dead. Generally, however, they live by the labour of other diving birds. They watch the Gulls, Terns, Guillemots, and other predatory species, and whenever they perceive that they have caught a fish, hasten after them with all speed, and so torment and worry them as to compel them to disgorge their already swallowed prey, and let it drop from their mouths. No sooner do their pursuers see it fall than, swooping after it with the speed of a Falcon, they catch it before it reaches the water, and appropriate it to their own use. Such barefaced robbery as this naturally causes the Skuas to be detested by all seafaring birds; nevertheless, they seem to care very little for the general hatred, and recklessly pursue their system of plunder whenever opportunity offers. No sea-bird will brood in their vicinity, or remain upon any inland lake of which they have possession. Every individual who has once made their acquaintance endeavours, as the sailors say, to give them a wide berth. The more valorous species often attack them furiously; the timid flee at their approach, or if they are in a position which enables them to do so, dive out of their sight. When their breeding-time arrives, the Skuas assemble in small parties, and build their nests in company with each other. The places selected for this purpose are generally large islands, some species preferring the level of the shore, others the summits of the highest rocks. In these localities they scratch or construct for themselves a round excavation in the sand, and, if practicable, concealed among plants, and in the ample nest lay two or three eggs, upon which the male and female sit alternately. The young are fed at first with food partially digested in the stomachs of their parents, subsequently upon coarser diet. They remain in the nest for several days, and when they leave it run about on the beach like young birds, hiding themselves, in case of danger, between the stones, or among the inequalities of the ground. After they have become capable of flight, they continue for some time in the neighbourhood of the coast, profit by their parents' instructions, and in their company they at last fly away to the open sea. In the second summer of their lives they begin to breed. The eggs of the Skuas are eaten by the inhabitants of northern countries, but the birds themselves are considered worthless; nevertheless, they are killed in great numbers. The chase after them is easy enough, inasmuch as they will greedily swallow any kind of bait, and fear man no more than they do the birds that they plunder.

THE COMMON SKUA.

The Common Skua (Lestris catarractes), the most conspicuous member of the above family, is twenty-two inches long, fifty-two inches broad; the length of its wing sixteen inches and a half, of the tail, six inches and a half. The colour of its plumage is greyish brown, the somewhat lighter under surface is striped longitudinally with pale or red grey; a space at the base of the dark-coloured wing is white; the eye is red-brown; the beak leaden grey at the root, and black at the apex; the foot blackish grey. The young birds resemble the adults.

Although the proper climate of the Skua is between 60° and 70° north latitude, it has also been met with in the temperate zone of the southern hemisphere. In Europe its head-quarters are in the vicinity of the Faroe and Shetland Islands; also on the coasts of Iceland, and the Orkneys and Hebrides, ranging from thence, in the winter season, to the northern shores of France, England, and Germany. The greater number of them, however, remain constantly in the north, seeking for their food wherever the sea may happen to be free from ice.

The Skua is recognisable from the larger Gulls by the varied character, facility, and rapidity of its movements. It runs quickly when upon dry land, swims beautifully, floating with its breast deeply immersed, and rises easily into the air, whether from the sea or from level ground. The flight of this