A Sea Robber.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20278, 12 April 1934, Page 8

A Sea Robber .

Nature Notes

By

James Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.

pOR REASONS that puzzle ornithologists, the jaeger, or Arctic skua, one of the most interesting sea-birds in the world, whose circumpolar home is in Siberia, Greenland, North America and Northern Europe, visits New Zealand regularly every summer, not in flocks, but singly, and not in great numbers. Like other visitors from the Far North, it does not nest here.

On New Zealand coasts and in New Zealand harbours, it spends much time in the company of seagulls and of terns, robbing them of fish they catch. The inoffensive lovely white-fronted tern, often called sea-swallow, a dream of grace and beauty, is marked out by the jaeger for its attentions in New Zealand, but any species of tern, any species of the smaller sea-birds or shore-birds, in fact, seems to be robbed by this rover. This is what New Zealanders may see on their shores when a jaeger is ne:r: “ The presence of the hunter amongst a flock of terns causes loud cries of anger. The terns scatter to right and left. The hunter, singling out an individual, chases it with great energy. No matter how skilfully and rapidly the victim twists and turns, now up. now down, now to one side, now to the other, sooner or later, with few exceptions, it acknowledges defeat by dropping its fish or by disgorging the contents of its gullet. “ The jaeger, with much skill, catches these in mid-air and swallows them at once, or carries them hanging from its bill for a short distance. It sometimes, more to enjoy its meal, alights on the water. It is so gluttonous that it at times swallows too much, and must disgorge some before it can fly again.” In fairness, it should be stated that the jaeger does not live by robbery alone. It eats putrid fish and other animal substances thrown up by the sea, shellfishes, dragonflies, beetles and other insects, small fishes, and mice.