320 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



2. The Yellow-nosed Albatross (<S3. Thalass6gewn atbnincltus) 

 is a browni.sli-baeked, white-bellied species. 



Length, 30 ; wing, 18 ; tail, 8^ ; tarsus, 3^ ; ciilmen, 4|. Reported 

 from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



ORDER XVI. LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 

 (LONGIPENNESi 



An order of swimniin;,,' liirds, with very long, pointed wings, 

 open nostrils, and a small hind toe or none. These birds show 

 great power of sustained flight as well as of swiunning. 



FAMILY LL\. SKIMMERS (RYNCHOPID^.) 



A small family of but three similar, sea-skimming birds, 

 one of which is found frecjuently on our southern coasts. 



1. Black Skimmer (SO. Jii'/nchops n)(jra). — A short-tailed, 

 lung-winged, short-legged, black-backed, white-bellied sea-bird, 



with a peculiar, 

 long, knife-like bill. 

 These birds skim 

 over the surface of 

 the water with the 

 lower mandible so 

 buried beneath the 

 waves as to ''plow 

 the main " for their 

 food, Avhich consists 

 of small sea animals. 

 They feed chiefly 

 during the dusk of the evening and at night ; during the day- 

 time they are usually found resting on the sand bars. Their 

 notes are very hoarse, somewhat resembling the croaking of 

 some herons. 



Length, 18; wing, 15 (14-16); tail, 5; tarsus, IJ; culmen, 2{-2|. 

 Warmer parts of America ; breeding as far north as New Jersej-, and 

 wandering to the Bay of Fundy. 



Black Skimmer 



