74 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



young. Their nesting places are situated on sand 

 spits running out from shore or on small iso- 

 lated islands of sand and sea-shells. The nest is 

 a simple, unlined hollow in the sand which the 

 bird makes by turning its body around many 

 times. The eggs vary from three to five in 

 number and are variously spotted and blotched, 

 no two being exactly alike. If the nests are 

 robbed, a second nest is soon made and another 

 clutch of eggs is laid. Very often groups of 

 breeding Skimmers assemble on the same sandy 

 shore where Terns are nesting, but use a terri- 

 tory more or less separated from that occupied 

 by the Terns. They are poor fighters and are 

 little disposed to defend aggressively their rights. 



For this reason, and also because they begin to 

 lay well after their neighbors have taken up their 

 household duties, they are forced to take such 

 accommodations as the Terns may deign to leave 

 them. If you approach one of their nesting 

 places the Skimmers will leap into the air and 

 bear down upon you with hoarse cries, but I 

 have never had one come near enough actually to 

 strike me. 



One of the local names for these birds is 

 " Shearwaters." Along the Virginia coast they 

 are known as " Storm Gulls." They are never 

 shot for food, but their eggs are regularly taken 

 by fishermen unless the colonies are carefully 

 guarded. T. Gilbert Pearson. 







\ ■.:Em^:^j:M 



T.GILBERT PEARSON HUNTING YOUNG HERRING GULLS HIDING i:^ THE WEEDS 



Little Duck Island^ Maine 



