the head of anyone intruding near their nests, always
coming up from behind the person they mob. The
sound made by their swoop resembles the noise made
by the passing of a small shot; and not knowing the bird
is coming up from behind, one is quite startled at their
first stoop.
" These Skuas bully all Gulls which pass near their
breeding-places, but in turn are themselves hustled by
any Peewits near whose young they happen to pass, and
it is a quaint sight to see a Skua on the ground being
buffeted by a pair of Peewits.
" The light and dark forms of this Skua were about
equal in number, perhaps the former were a little more
numerous, but both light and dark birds interpair; in
the only instance in which I could be certain, the dark
bird was the female.
" I am happy to say these birds are strictly preserved
in the locality to which I refer."
My own acquaintance with Richardson's Skua is
confined to the open sea off the coasts of Spain and
Italy. In the Gulf of Gaeta, in the month of March
1875, I noticed some ten or more of these birds in
varying plumage busily engaged in bullying and chasing
about a flock of Black-headed Gulls.