North American IJirds Eof.s. 



45 



SKIMMERS. Family RYNCHOPID/E. 



Skimmers are Tern-like birds having a very strangely developed bill. The 

 lower mandible is much longer than the upper and very thin, the upper edge 

 being as sharp as the lower. The lower mandible is rounded at the end while 

 the upper is more pointed. Young Skimmers are said to have both mandibles 

 of the same length, the abnormal development not appearing until after Hight. 

 Skimmers are very graceful birds, and, as implied l)y their name, they skim over 

 the surface of the water, rising and falling with the waves, and are said to pick 

 up their food by dropping the lower mandible below the surface, its thin edge 

 cutting the water like a knife. There are four species of Skimmers, only one of 

 which is found in North America. 



80. Black Skimmer. Ri/ii chops nigra. 



Range.— Tlie South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, breeding fnjm New Jersey 

 southward. The Black Skimmer is about eighteen inches in length, and 

 besides the remarkable bill is a bird of striking plumage ; the forehead, ends of 

 the secondaries, tail feathers and under parts are white ; the rest of the plumage 



is black and the basal half of the bill is 

 crimson. Skimmers nest in large commu- 

 nities, the same as do the Terns, laying 

 their eggs in hollows in the sand. They 

 are partially nocturnal in their habits and 

 their hoarse barking cries maybe heard after 

 the shadows of night have enveloped the 

 earth. Fishermen call them by the names 

 of "Cut-water" and Sea Dog." The nesting 

 season commences in May and continues 

 through June and July. They lay from 

 three to five eggs, having a creamy or yellow- 

 ish buff ground, blotched with black, chest- 

 nut and lilac. Size 1.75 x 1.30. Data.— 

 Cobb's Is., Vii., Junes, 1894. Three eggs laid in a hollow on the beach. No 

 nest. 



Buffy yellow. I 





TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. Order III. TUBINARES. 

 ALBATROSSES. Family DIOMEDEID/E. 



Albatrosses are the largest of the sea birds and have an enormous expanse of 

 wing, the Wandering Albatross, the largest of the family, sometimes attaining 

 an expanse of fourteen feet. Their nostrils consist of two slightly projecting 

 tubes, one on each side near the base of the bill. They are unsurpassed in 

 powers of flight, but are only fair swimmers and rarely, if ever, dive, getting 

 their food, which consists of dead animal matter, from the surface of the water. 



