Gould described the Skuas as persecutors of other sea-birds. They generally breed apart from other birds, taking possession of a separate island and making a nest of dry grasses and mosses 'placed upon a slight but dry eminence.'

Gould commented on the general diversity of colouring in the plumage of the Artic Skua. In the illustration is a light phased adult with chicks, and in front is a dark phased bird. The nestlings were 'clothed in a hairy down of a uniform sooty-black.'

DISTRIBUTION: Breeding distribution circumpolar through northern Eurasia and northern North America. Winters at sea mostly in south southern oceans north to United States coasts. In Britain breeds in the extreme north and west of Scotland, especially in Orkney and Shetland