BLACK SKIMMER. 265 



pure white, marked almost all over with large umber-brown 

 blotches and dashes of two shades, and other faint ones ap- 

 pearing beneath the surface. In some eggs these particular 

 blotches are from half an inch to an inch in length. As 

 the birds, like the Terns and Gulls to which they are allied, 

 remain gregarious through the breeding season, it is possible 

 to collect a half bushel or more of the ecro-s from a single 

 sand bar, within the compass of half an acre ; and though not 

 very palatable, they are still eaten by the inhabitants of the 

 coast. The female only sits on her nest during the night, 

 or in wet and stormy weather ; but the young remain for 

 several weeks before they acquire the full use of their wings, 

 and are during that period assiduously fed by both parents ; 

 at first they are scarcely distinguishable from the sand by 

 the similarity of their color, and during this period may 

 often be seen basking in the sun, and spreading out their 

 wings upon the warm beach. The pair, retiring to the 

 south, in September, or as soon as their young are prepared 

 for their voyage, raise but a single brood in the season. 



The Skimmer is, I believe, unknown to the north of the 

 sea-coast of New Jersey, and probably passes the period of 

 reproduction along the whole of the southern coast of the 

 United States. The species is also met with in the equato- 

 rial regions, where it is alike resident, as far as Surinam, 

 but never penetrates into the interior, being, properly speak- 

 ing, an oceanic genus. Its voice, like that of the Tern, is 

 loud, harsh, and stridulous. In quest of its usual prey of 

 small fish and mollusca, it is frequently observed skimming 

 close along shore about the first of the flood tide, proceeding 

 leisurely with a slovvly flapping flight, and balancing itself on 

 its long and outstretched wings, it is seen every now and 

 then to dip, with bended neck, its lower mandible into the 

 sea, and with open mouth receives its food, thus gleaning 

 and ploughing along the yielding surface of the prolific deep. 

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