legs of the party for shelter. Happening to
separate from his party, Mr. Low was attacked
by three skuas; who, only enraged the more by
the discharges of his gun, inflicting severe blows,
made him repent of his imprudence. When in
search of their sheep on the hills, the Foula
shepherds are often attacked by the skuas.
They defend themselves by holding their cudgels
above their heads, on which the skua often kills
itself.

Mr. Dunn saw a pair of common skuas beat
a large eagle completely off from their breeding
place on Ronas hill. Immediately, indeed, that
an eagle, a hawk, a raven, or an ox, or a horse,
or a man is seen approaching their nests, the
attack commences. The cock and the hen in
rapid succession descend from a considerable
height with startling fury and force, inflicting
severe blows. All animals, except man, are
beaten off, and even the most experienced
fowlers cannot harry their nests without
carrying off marks of war.

Yet the common skua is easily made tame
and sociable. This species lives in pairs and not
in flocks. They are protected by a penalty from
being shot, because they are useful in protecting
lambs from eagles. They accompany the fishing-
boats to their fishing-stations for the sake of the
refuse fish which are thrown to them. The
penalty which a sportsman incurs for shooting
one of them is sixteen shillings and eightpence.
The popular name, bonxie, is applied to all the
species of skuas in Shetland. Mr. Yarrel
mentions a bonxie which was kept alive in captivity
for no less a term than twenty-four years. Skuas
are at home in both hemispheres, and the common
skua is called a Port Egmont Hen in the
Falkland islands; for these birds are denizens
equally of Nova Zembla and the Straits of
Magellan.

Ornithologists have been curious enough to
inquire why the skuas prefer food obtained by
piracy? Many gulls carry an oil in their gullets,
and the disgorged fish, it has been suggested,
are preferred because they have been halt-cooked
in oil!

This group of birds is easily distinguished
from the gulls by their recalling to mind the
hawks and the petrels. Neither is it difficult
to remember the salient differences characteristic
of the four or five species I have described,
have been inclined to fancy the undescribed
dwarf species may only be a variety of the
common skua, because they have both middle tail-
feathers which taper to a point. These feathers
in the Pomarine, Richardson's, and Buffon's
skuas, are broad and rounded at the end. A
striking peculiarity of the Pomarine is, that the
middle tail-feathers are turned vertically, the
webs, instead of being lateral, stand above
and below each shaft. These two middle tail-
feathers are a little longer than the other tail-
feathers in the common skua; and they are
longer in the Pomarine, still longer in
Richardson's, and singularly elongated in Buffon's
skua. As for the new skua, it resembles the
Pomarine, but it is only half the size, and has
the central tail-feathers pointed instead of broad.
Is it a cross between the Pomarine and
Richardson's skua?

TO GLORIANA IN THE SOUTH.

APRIL.

THE Year is in its green bud,
And, oh! may its unsunned wealth
Come smiling forth for yon, Lady,
All happiness and health!
May the Days throng round you with sweetness new,
Like Bees at the golden comb;
But come to the hearts that ache for You,
Dear my Lady come Home!

The Larch is snooding her tresses
In a twine of the daintiest green;
With the fresh spring-breath the Hawthorn heaves
His breast to the sunny sheen.
A shower of spring-green sprinkles the Lime;
A shower of spring-gold the Broom;
And each rathe tint of the tender time
Wakes the wish that my Lady were Home.

In the Coppice, the dear Primroses
Are the smile of each dim green nook,
Gravely gladsome; sunny but cool
With the sound of the gurgling brook.
And by the wayside, in a burst of delight,
From the world of fairy and gnome,
All the flowers are crowding to see the sight
At their windows. My Lady come Home!

The Country is growing glorious
Quietly, day by day;
The colour of April comes and goes
In a blush to meet the May.
And the spring-rains steal from their heaven of shade,
In a veil of tender gloam,
With a splendid sparkle for every blade.
Dear my Lady come Home!

The Spirit of Gladness floating
Goes up in a sound of song:
Robin sings in the rich eve-lights;
The Throstle all day long:
The Lark in his heaven that soars above
Him, each morn with a distant dome;
All sweet! but sweeter the voice we love.
Come Home, my Lady, come Home!

Your Apple-blooms are fragrant
Beyond the breath of the South;
Every bud, for an airy kiss,
Is lifting a rosy wee mouth.
A greener glory hour by hour,
And a peep of ruddier bloom,
But the leafy world's waiting its human, flower.
Dear my Lady come Home!

Our thoughts are as the Violets
Around the Ash-tree root,
That breathe the earliest hints of Spring
At their lofty lady's foot,
And wonder why she still delays—
When the sea of life is a-foam
With flowers— to crown her in these glad days.
Come Home, my Lady, come Home I