History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

Puffinus. BIRDS. FALMIPIDES. 137Gen. XCIX.tail.PUFFINUS. Puffin.—Nostrils with separateopenings; extremity of the lower mandible bent downwards.220. P. Anglorum. Manks Puffin.— Wings longer than theWill. Orn. 251.— Lyra, Sibb.Scot. 22—Procellaria Puffinus, Linn. Syst.i. 213. Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. 551—Proc. Ang. Temm. Orn. ii. 806— E,Shearwater ; W, Pwffingen Fanaw ; iV, Lyre, Scrabe. — A summer visitant.Length 15, breadth 32 inches; weight 17 ounces. Bill an inch in lengthbefore the nostrils ; blackish brown. Legs dusky without, yellowish on theinside. Plumage, above, black ; beneath, white ; the sides of the neck freckledblack and white. Female similar— Nest in holes. Eggs—1, white. Youngnearly resembling the old birds—This species arrives at its breeding placesin March, and departs in August. The young are very fat, and are soughtafter by the inhabitants, killed, salted, and eaten with potatoes or cabbage.Gen. C. CATARACTES. Skua.—Nostrils near the middleof the mandible, and covered with a corneous plate,reaching to the base. Claw of the inner toe arched.Willoughby, with propriety, separated this genus from the following.— The species are bold, of rapid flight, and support themselveschiefly on the food which they compel the Gulls to vomit.221. C. vulgaris.Common Skua.— Plumage brown; tailfeathersnearly equal.C. noster, Will. Orn. 265. Sibb. Scot. 20.— Larus cat. Linn. Syst. i. 226*Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. 529 Cat. vul. Flem. Edin. Phil. Journ. i. 97Lestris Cat. Temm. Orn. ii. 792 — S, Sea Eagle; JV, Skua, Skui, Bonxie.Breeds in Zetland.Length 25, breadth 55 to 58 inches; weight 54 ounces. Bill 2| incheslong, brownish-black. The upper mandible is rounded along the margin towardsthe base, a little prominent in front of the nostrils above, and bentdownwards at the end like the hawks. The under mandible is bent inwardsat the edges; at the apex it forms a gutter, sloping downwards ; at the base it isgrooved laterally and at the ;junction of the two sides, beneath, there is an angularprominence. The eyes are surrounded with a narrow bare black orbit,and the irides are hazel brown. The legs are covered with large black scales.The claws sre strong, of a black colour, arched and grooved beneath. The plumage,on the upper parts, is dark rust}' brown, with yellowish-white oblongdusky spots. Each feather isdusky -brown on the edges, and yellowish-whiteat the end near the shaft. The plumage, below, is lighter coloured, and onthe belly it is tinged with ash-grey. The feathers on the neck are wiry andpointed, and have a narrow oil-green spot on the extremity. The wings reachto the point of the tail. The shafts of the quills are white. The outer web,and the extremity of the first, deep brown; the tips only of the rest, brown ; theremaining part, towards the base, is white. The covers of a few of the secondariesare white. The tail-feathers, which are twelve in number, are blunt ; theshafts, and the webs at the base, are white ; towards the extremity the webs arebrown. There is no difference between the sexes, either in colour or size, in