616 



APPENDIX. 



more serious employ of incubation. In imitation of this 

 curious amusement of the Sharp-Tailed Grouse, the Indi- 

 ans of the upper Missouri, have what they also call a Par- 

 tridge-Dance, in which the old men chiefly join. 



BLACK SKIMMER. 



{Rhynchops nigra, Linn. Syst. i. p. 228. 1. Le Bec-en-ciseaux, Briss. 

 Orn. vi. p. 223. 1. pi. 21. fig. 2. Buff. PI. Enlum. 357. Avis 

 7wvacuIcB facie, the Sea Crow, Raii, Synops. p. 194. 5. pi. 1. fig. 

 5. Petiv. Gazo. t. 76. fig. 2. [the bill]. Edwards, pi. 281. [do.] 

 See p 2G4. of the present volume.) 



This singular bird, inhabits the warmer and milder parts 

 of the United States from the coasts of New Jersey to 

 Florida, it is also found in Guiana, Cayenne, and Surinam. 

 The East India species is probably distinct. The JR.fuIva 

 of Guiana, described by Linngeus, differs from the present 

 in having those parts fulvous which in this are black ; their 

 general appearance and habits are however the same. 



