Part 29

THE LESSER BLACK-HEADED GULL.

The LESSER BLACK-HEADED GULL (Chroicocephalus melanocephalus) is about fifteen inches and a quarter in length. In this species the whole head, except a small patch of white above and beneath the eye, is of an extremely deep black; the back of neck, chest, tail, and all the under parts are pure white; the whole of the upper part, delicate pearl-grey; primaries, white at their tips, the outer web of the first primary black for three parts of its length; beak, legs, and eyelids vermilion, irides brown. This bird inhabits Southern Europe, particularly the shores of the Adriatic. It abounds in Dalmatia, breeding in the marshes.

THE LITTLE GULL.

The LITTLE GULL (Chroicocephalus minuta). In winter the entire upper surface of the adult's plumage is of a blueish ash; quills and secondaries tipped with white; throat and under surface pure white, with a slight tinge of rose-colour; bill brownish red; tarsi bright red; irides brown. In summer the whole of the head and upper part become of a brownish black. It is found, though not in great abundance, in the western part of Europe. This species inhabits the eastern parts of Russia, Livonia, and Hungary, and the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas.

It is rare in Great Britain, and was first described as a British bird by Montagu, in his "Ornithological Dictionary." According to Temminck, it feeds on worms and insects. Little, however, is known of its habits.

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The SKUAS (Lestres), although resembling the Gulls in shape and plumage, differ from them in so many particulars that they must be regarded as forming a separate family. The principal points of difference between these birds and the true Sea Gulls are found in the structure of the beak and feet, as also in the peculiarity of their colours, and in their mode of life.

In the Skuas the body is strongly built, the neck short, the head small, the beak moderately short but strong, thick, and towards the apex compressed. The upper mandible is vaulted above, strongly hooked, and provided at its base with a cere. The tarsus is moderately high, the toes short, but with a very complete web, and furnished with crooked, sharp-pointed, and sharp-edged claws. The wings are long, narrow, and pointed, the first quill being the longest. The tail consists of twelve feathers, of moderate length, and has the central tail-feathers prolonged. The plumage is rich and thick, upon the under surface fur-like; its prevailing colour is a dusky brown.

The Skuas, or Parasite Gulls, are most abundant in the Arctic Regions. They live principally in the open sea, but at their breeding-time seek the neighbourhood of coasts and islands. Occasionally they wing their way into more southern latitudes, and sometimes are to be seen far inland. In strength of wing they are superior to the Gulls, and they swim well, but prefer flying to swimming. In a certain sense, they might be said to hold a middle position between Sea Gulls and birds of prey. They attack all animals that they are able to subdue, and persecute their weaker brethren until they oblige them to yield up whatsoever prey they may have caught. Indeed, it was recently generally believed that they were unable to catch prey for themselves, but were obliged to live the life of freebooters, and depend upon thieving for their support; modern observations have, however, shown that this is not altogether correct. It is, however, quite true that their power of diving is not such as to enable them to catch fishes at any great depth; they can only procure such as may be swimming close to the 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 bird resembles that of the larger Sea Gulls, but is not so equable. Sometimes the celerity of its movements will bear comparison with those of the Hawks and Eagles. Sometimes it skims over the surface of the sea without the slightest perceptible motion of its wings, or rushes from a great height obliquely downwards towards the surface of the sea, tearing through the air with surprising rapidity. In daring, thieving, and unsociableness it not only far exceeds the Gulls, but surpasses every other sea-bird. Of all the tyrants of the sea it is the most universally dreaded; it has no participation or friendship with any other species; and although only the strongest of its enemies ever venture to attack so redoubtable a foe, it is held in universal abhorrence. The opinion entertained by other birds as to its cunning and ferocity is best exemplified by the fact that even such as are far larger and stronger than their oppressors submit to be robbed and bullied in the manner we have described, without making the slightest resistance. The appetite of the Skuas is exactly proportioned to their restlessness and activity. So long as they are on the wing they are constantly employed in satisfying the cravings of their ravenous maw. Should no other bird appear in sight upon which to exercise their avocation as highwaymen, they are under the necessity of fishing for themselves, and if not successful in their endeavours to obtain a meal, have recourse to the shore, upon which they diligently search for anything in the shape of food that may have been left by the receding tide. Should this resource likewise fail them, they fly off into the fields and inland marshes, where they pick up worms, insects, and small mollusca; or should they meet with a sea-bird similarly occupied, they at once give chase, exhibiting as much strength and skilfulness in the use of their wings as they do courage and audacity in planning their attack, never leaving their victim until they have made him disgorge the contents of his stomach, and appropriated it to their own use. Not unfrequently, indeed, they will kill and devour the bird itself. Graba tells us that he saw one of them at a single blow shatter the skull of a Coulterneb, and various witnesses testify that they eat Sea Gulls and Guillemots, striking them dead with their beaks, and afterwards tearing them to pieces. Wounded or disabled birds they remorselessly devour. In the breeding-places they plunder the nests, breaking the eggs and swallowing the young. "A general shriek," says Nordmann, "rises from a thousand throats as soon as one of these marauders is seen winging his way towards the rock, and yet none of the brooding birds will venture to offer anything like a serious resistance to the invader. He seizes hold of the young birds, wrenching them from the very beaks of their parents, who only follow the robber to a little distance from the nest, without any effectual result. So soon as the thief finds himself no longer pursued, he flies down to the sea, kills and devours his prey, and then flies off with it to his own nest, where he disgorges it for the benefit of his young family. When making these raids, the Skua has never been observed to use any other weapon than his beak, although it would seem probable, from the sharpness of his powerful, strongly-hooked claws, that they likewise may be resorted to as formidable instruments of attack. After a plentiful meal, the Skua betakes himself to some rock, where he sits for a time with puffed-out feathers, apparently enjoying a luxurious nap, and in that position he remains till the calls of hunger again prompt him to active exertion."

About the beginning of May, the Skuas may be seen congregating in pairs in the vicinity of their breeding-places, where, upon some rocky platform or moss-grown overhanging ledge, they construct their nests. These are generally mere cavities, hollowed out by the pressure of their bodies, and here, during the first days of June, they lay two eggs of a dirty olive-green colour, spotted with brown. One of their breeding-places visited by Graba was occupied by about fifty couples. According to Mr. Dunn, this species has three breeding-places in the Shetland Isles--Foula, Rona's Hill, and the Isle of Unst. In the latter place it is by no means numerous, and is strictly preserved by the landlords on whose property it may have settled, from a supposition that it will defend their flocks from the attack of the Eagle. That it will attack the Eagle if he approaches its nest is a fact that I have witnessed. I once saw a pair beat off a large Eagle from their breeding-place on Rona's Hill.

Should a man approach the nest, the old birds at once fly into the air screaming furiously, and sometimes boldly attack the rash intruder on their privacy by dealing violent blows about his head and face. Sometimes, according to Graba, bird-catchers hold knives above their caps, upon which the birds occasionally impale themselves as they swoop violently down and endeavour to wound the enemy's head. Both parents assist in the work of incubation, and hatch the eggs in about four weeks. The young are nimble, gallant little fellows, and leave the nest almost immediately after quitting the shell. A writer in the Records of the Wernerian Society informs us that on alarm of danger they secrete themselves with great art behind stones, or in holes, and if captured make a most amusing show of defence. When first hatched, the fledglings are warmly clad in greyish brown down, and are reared upon small mollusca, worms, eggs, and similar delicacies, disgorged from the parents' crop; at a later period they are supplied with half-digested fish or flesh, or sometimes with young birds. When able to provide for themselves, they are said to eat berries of different kinds. By the end of August they have attained their full growth, and in September are able to fly out to sea. The Common Skua is easily tamed, and in some places, says Mr. Dunn, is a great favourite with the fishermen, frequently accompanying their boats to the fishing-ground; this the fishermen consider a lucky omen, and in return for its attendance they give it the refuse of the fish which are caught, or supply it with any useless garbage from their nets.

BUFFON'S OR THE PARASITE SKUA.

BUFFON'S or the PARASITE SKUA (Lestris [Stercorarius] parasitica) is considerably smaller, and more slenderly built, than the species last described, from which it is also distinguishable by the central tail-feathers. These are considerably elongated and sharp-pointed. The colour of this bird is either sooty brown, with a white throat, and a whitish or yellowish patch upon the forehead, or the upper side is sooty brown, the throat yellowish, the under side greyish white, and the region of the crop grey. This variation in the colours of different specimens seems quite independent either of age or sex. The eye is brown, beak black, cere dark leaden grey, and the foot blue-black. The length is eighteen to nineteen inches; breadth, thirty-nine to forty-two inches; length of wing, twelve inches; length of tail, seven inches. The Parasite Skua is met with in the Arctic Regions of both hemispheres. It is found in Spitzbergen and Greenland, extending thence to the middle of the coast of Norway; it occurs in Iceland; in the islands to the north of Scotland; in the Faroe Islands; off the coast of Labrador; in Newfoundland; also in Behring's Straits; and in the Sea of Ochotsk it is abundant. In England and Ireland it is but rarely seen. During the winter it is a regular visitant to the more southern coasts of the countries bordering on the North Sea, and sometimes wanders inland. Except during the breeding season, it passes its whole life on the sea. Its presence is by no means confined to coasts and rocky reefs; it remains for weeks together far out of sight of land.

The unpractised observer will find but little difficulty in distinguishing the Parasite Gull, even from its nearest allies, as soon as he has witnessed the manner of its flight. Its gait when walking is hurried, but is not otherwise remarkable, and when swimming, with the exception of its dark colour, it very much resembles some of the smaller Gulls. Its flight, however, is more versatile than that of any member of the family; frequently it skims along like a Falcon, at one time giving a few rapid strokes with its wings, then sweeping onwards to a considerable distance, somewhat after the manner of a Kite; suddenly, however, it seems to shiver, or rapidly shake its wings, and precipitates itself downwards, describing a sort of arch, mounts up again, and immediately adopts a course made up of an alternation of larger and smaller arches joined beneath each other. It now shoots with great rapidity downwards, then slowly mounts again, and remains for a moment quiet, as it were exhausted; but the next instant, as though possessed by an evil spirit, it turns, and winds, and struggles, and flutters in an indescribable manner.

The cry of these birds somewhat resembles that of a Peacock. In their disposition they very closely resemble the Common Skua; they are bold, importunate, and valorous, but covetous, gluttonous, and thievish. In one respect, however, they differ from the Skua in a striking manner--they are remarkably social, and are at all times to be met with in little companies. During the breeding season they assemble in still greater numbers, but arranged in pairs, each of which builds its nest a little removed from the others, within a small territory of its own. These birds are as much feared by the smaller Gulls, as the Great Skuas are by the larger ones, and yet, strange to say, Plovers, Snipes, and Oyster-catchers may be seen building in their immediate vicinity without the slightest indication of mistrust.

Upon several occasions we have watched the Parasite Gulls for weeks at a time, and by so doing have ascertained that during the middle of summer they are quite as active in the night-time as during the day. They have often appeared to us to be busied for hours together catching insects, but we have never found anything but the remains of fishes in their stomachs. The birds that they principally follow for the sake of making them disgorge any prey that they have swallowed are Gulls, Petrels, Terns, and Guillemots. The booty, however, that they obtain in this summary manner can scarcely form the staple of their food. They may be seen wandering along the beach, picking up worms and remnants cast up by the waves quite as often as they are employed in pursuing other birds. About the middle of May the Parasite Gulls make their appearance on dry land for the purpose of rearing their progeny. The places selected for the nests are generally low-lying moors and high rocks; according to our own experience, they always avoid extensive moors. Fifty or a hundred of their nests may be sometimes counted in these settlements; each pair, however, seems to claim the vicinity of their nest as their own ground, from which they drive away intruders even of their own species. The nests are situated upon the top of small hillocks of earth, and consist of simple but carefully formed excavations. Their eggs, which are seldom laid before the middle of June, are smooth and somewhat polished; their colour is a dingy olive, or brownish green, speckled, streaked, and dotted with dark grey, dark olive, or reddish brown. Naumann is of opinion that the Parasite Gulls only lay two eggs; we, however, have repeatedly found three in the same nest. The two sexes brood by turns, and tenderly watch over their young. Should a man approach the nest, they at once hasten to meet the intruder; they fly round in circles, throw themselves on the ground before him to distract his notice, always, of course, managing to get out of the way should he try to catch them. They show themselves on these occasions quite experts in dissimulation, hop and flutter on the grass as if they were wounded--in short, do everything in their power to tempt their enemy from the locality. The early life of the young birds differs in no important particular from that of their congeners already described.

ROSS'S ROSY GULL.

Ross's ROSY GULL (Rhodostethia rosea or Rossii), the most beautiful Gull with which we are acquainted, is a resident in America, where it inhabits the far north. Upon some occasions, however, it has been known to visit Europe, and consequently deserves notice, although we are ignorant of any important particulars in which it differs from others of its race. This species is distinguishable by its wedge-shaped tail, the two middle feathers of which project nearly an inch beyond the rest; from this circumstance it is regarded as the representative of a distinct section of the family. Its beak is feeble, and the angular enlargement of the front of the under jaw, so characteristic of the Gulls, scarcely perceptible. The tarsus is moderately strong, and the four-toed foot of a medium length. The coloration of the feathers is more delicate and beautiful than that of any other of the race; the mantle is pearly or silvery grey; the under neck, breast, and belly are pale rose-red; the middle of the neck is adorned with a narrow black band, somewhat resembling a necklace of jet. The exterior web of the first quill is black, that of all the others white. The eyelids and throat are reddish yellow, the beak black, the foot scarlet. The length of this bird is fourteen inches; the length of the wing ten inches and a half; and of the tail five inches and a half. The Rosy Gull is included among British birds, a specimen having been killed upon a ploughed field in Yorkshire in 1847. Yarrell tells us that its flight resembles that of its congeners, and that it did not appear at all shy.

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The PETRELS, or STORM-BIRDS (Procellaridæ), are distinguishable among all other sea-birds, and, indeed, among all birds whatever, by the circumstance that their nostrils are represented by horny tubes, situated upon the upper beak.

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The ALBATROSSES (Diomedeæ), although by no means the noblest among this extensive group, seem to claim the precedence on account of their prodigious size and imposing aspect. These birds are recognisable by their great stature, powerful build, short thick neck, large head, and long beak, the latter being strong, compressed at the sides, and terminating in a formidably hooked tip. For some distance from its commencement the culmen is slightly bowed inwards, and the cutting edges are exceedingly sharp. The nostrils terminate in short horny tubes, that lie side by side upon the upper aspect of the beak, and from these deep channels are prolonged quite to its extremity. The tarsus is short, but strong, the foot three-toed, and very broadly-webbed. The wings are very long, but remarkably narrow, the primary quills long and strong, the first quill being the longest; the secondary quills, on the contrary, are remarkably short, scarcely projecting beyond the wing-covers. The tail, which consists of twelve feathers, is short, either straight, or slightly rounded or pointed at its extremity. The general plumage is uncommonly rich, thick, and downy, but not striking in its coloration, which seems to vary in the two sexes and at different ages, as well as according to the seasons of the year.

The Albatrosses claim the vast ocean of the southern hemisphere as their habitat; both the D. exulans and the D. chlororhynchus, it is true, have been occasionally seen even off the coasts of Europe, but such a circumstance can only be regarded as an accidental occurrence. They seldom or never pass beyond the tropic of Capricorn, at least in the Atlantic, and even then only as occasional wanderers. They appear more frequently, however, in the northern regions of the Pacific Ocean; they are also said to make regular visits to Behring's Straits and the Sea of Ochotsk, and not only casually to show themselves upon those unfrequented shores, but to reside in their vicinity during several months, only retiring beyond the equator as the season for breeding approaches. In like manner they are frequently met with in high antarctic latitudes, i.e., as we are informed by sailors and fishermen, up to 50° or 60° south latitude; but whether these visits are regular migrations, or merely casual excursions, we are not as yet informed. We know, however, that they visit all seas lying between 23° north, and 66° south latitude; that when they come into more northern climes, as into Kamschatka and Ochotsk, they are hungry, lank, and half-starved, but that in a few weeks, owing to the abundance of food they there meet with, they return to their breeding-places plump and in good condition. It is said by some observers that in the literal meaning of the words their flight extends quite around the globe, being generally, however, more or less restricted within the limits of a certain zone, from which they never wander far during the whole course of the year, and within which they likewise breed.

THE WANDERING ALBATROSS.