=73* Pacific Gull= (Larger), _Gabianus pacificus_. A., T. =vt. Eur. Greater Black-backed Gull. Stat. c. _shore_ 25 "This fine gull;" head, neck, under white; tail white barred black; back, wings slaty-black; eye white; legs yellow; deepened bill orange tipped red; f., smaller; young up to 4 years mottled-brown, becoming more like adult each year. Fish, crabs, carrion. F. 33. STERCORARIIDAE (4), SKUAS, Robber Gulls, Sea Pirates, 7 sp.--4(0)A., 1(0)O., 4(0)P., 3(0)E., 4(0)Nc., 4(1)Nl. 1 4 =74 Great Southern Skua=, Robber Gull, Port-Egmont-Hen, Sea-Hawk, Hakoakoa, _Megalestris antarctica_, S. Oceans, A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Great Skua. [~74 _Catharacta._] Mig. r. _shores_ 23 Upper blackish-brown; under chocolate-brown; wing white patch; centre tail feathers project 1/2in.; f., sim. Stolen fish, carrion. 2 3 =75 Richardson Skua= (Arctic), Arctic (Parasite) Gull, Long-tailed Jaeger, Sea-Pirate, Boatswain-Bird, Teaser, _Stercorarius crepidatus_, cos. [~75 _Catharacta parasitica._] Mig. r. _shores_ 20 Dimorphic (two phases)--1. Dusky upper; blackish cap; narrow whitish collar; under white; brown band on chest; brown band on wing; centre tail feathers project 3ins.; strong bill, claws. 2. Under mottled and barred brown and whitish; follow bay steamers; f., sim. Stolen fish. ==== The fifty Australian birds included in the important order of Waders are remarkably like such birds found inhabiting other regions of the globe, shore conditions apparently being somewhat similar the world over. It is interesting to note that thirteen of the forty-four Australian members of this family of Plover-like birds are also found in Britain, and that most of the others are direct representatives of closely-related birds found in other Countries. No less than twenty-eight of these birds are merely visitors here, for they breed away in the far North. Many even nest within the Arctic Circle, in Siberia, for it is a rule that a migrating bird nests in the colder of the two countries visited. Strictly, these twenty-eight species are Siberian, or at least northern, forms, and not Australian birds. Many members of this group undergo a seasonal change of plumage when breeding time comes. As they spend this season in the Northern Hemisphere, we do not see them in their brilliant colors, but in quiet, mottled browns and grays.