British Birds in Their Haunts

by C. A. Johns

Upper plumage uniform dark brown; feathers of the nape long, tapering lustrous; sides of the face and under plumage white; a collar of brown spots on the breast, and similar spots on the flanks; shafts of the quills and tail-feathers white, except at the tip; two central tail-feathers projecting three inches, not tapering; tarsus two inches long, rough at the back, with projecting scales. Length twenty-one inches. Young birds—upper plumage dusky brown, mottled with reddish yellow; under, yellowish white, thickly set with brown spots and bars. Eggs ash-green, spotted with dusky.

The habits of this bird vary but little from those of the other species. Its home is in the Arctic seas, from which it strays southwards in winter, and has been occasionally seen on our coasts. The following account of the capture of one of these birds, in 1844, indicates a bird of unusual daring and voracity: "About the beginning of last October, a Pomarine Skua was taken in the adjoining village of Ovingdean. It had struck down a White Gull, which it would not quit: it was kept alive above a fortnight, and then died. The very first day of its captivity it (is said to have) devoured twenty-five Sparrows. Once it escaped, and immediately attacked a Duck, which it held till recaptured."[54]

[54] Zoologist, vol. iii. p. 880.

RICHARDSON'S SKUA
STERCORARIUS CREPIDATUS

Crown dusky; cheeks, neck, and under plumage white, tinged with yellow or brown; rest of the plumage dusky, the wings and tail the darkest. Two central tail-feathers tapering from the base, pointed, and projecting six inches; tarsus less than two inches. Length twenty-one inches. Eggs olive, with a circle of brown spots near the larger extremity, the rest speckled with the same colour.

This species of Skua, most familiarly known, perhaps, as the Arctic Gull, received its distinctive name, 'Richardson's', in honour of the eminent Arctic naturalist. It is distinguished from the species already described by its longer tail, but the habits of all are much alike; indeed, the names of 'Arctic Gull', 'Boatswain', 'and Man-of-War', appear to be sometimes employed indiscriminately. Richardson's Skua, like the rest, inhabits the Arctic seas, but extends its wanderings southwards in far greater numbers than either of the other species, so that its occurrence on the east coast of England is not unusual. According to Mr. Dunn, 'numbers of this bird breed in Orkney and Shetland, appearing regularly in May and leaving in August: it is confined to a few situations and is strictly preserved, from the same motive as the Skua Gull. It constructs its nest on low, not mossy, heaths in exposed situations. The female lays two eggs, and has recourse to the same stratagems that the Plover employs to decoy you from the nest; but when a person approaches near to the place where the nest is built, becomes bold and fierce, and strikes severely with the feet and bill.' The following account is taken from Mr. St. John's Wild Sports of the Highlands: "I was much amused the other day by the proceedings of a pair of the Black-toed Gull or Boatswain. These two birds were sitting quietly on an elevated ridge of sand, near which a number of other Gulls of different kinds were fishing, and hovering about in search of what the waves might cast up. Every bird, indeed, was busy and employed, excepting these two black robbers, who seemed to be quietly resting, quite unconcerned. When, however, a Gull had picked up a prize, these birds seemed instinctively to know it, and darting off with the rapidity of a Hawk (which bird they much resemble in their manner of flight), they attacked the unfortunate Gull in the air, and in spite of his screams and attempts to escape, they pursued and beat him till he disgorged the fish or whatever he had swallowed, when one of them darted down and caught the substance before it could reach the water. The two then quietly returned to their sandbank, where they waited patiently to renew the robbery, should an opportunity occur. As the flock of Gulls moved on with the flow of the tide, the Boatswains moved on also, hovering on their flank like a pair of plundering freebooters. I observed that, in chasing a Gull, they seemed perfectly to understand each other as to who should get the spoil; and in their attacks on the largest Gulls (against whom they waged the most fearless warfare), they evidently acted so as to aid each other. If another pair of Boatswains intruded on their hunting-ground they immediately seemed to send them further off; not so much by actual battle, as by a noisy and screaming argument, which they continued most vigorously till the new-comers left the neighbourhood.

"I never saw these birds hunt for their own living in any other way than by robbing the other Gulls. Though not nearly so large as some of the birds which they attack, their Hawk-like swoops and great courage seem to enable them to fight their way most successfully. They are neatly and powerfully made, their colour a kind of sooty dull black, with very little gloss or shining tints on their feathers."