1020 



S YS TEMA TIC S YNOPSIS. — L ONGIPENNES. 



Fig. 701. — Bill of Skimmer, nat. size. 



mollusks. The voice is very hoarse and raucous, rather than strident. They are somewhat 

 nocturnal or at least crepuscular; their general economy is the same as that of Terns, as are 

 all points of structure excepting those above specified ; but these are so remarkable that the 

 Skimmers might form a family apart from Laridce. Besides the following, there are four extra- 

 limital species: E- melanura and B. intercedens of South America; B. flavirostris of Africa; 

 and B. alhicollis of Asia. 



RHYN'CHOPS. (Gr. pvyxo^i hrugchos, beak; a)\//, ops, the face: well applied to the bird 

 whose beak is such an extraordinary feature.) Skimmers. Character as above. (A. 0. U. 

 misspells Bynchops, after Linn. 1758.) 



K. nigra. (Lat. nic/ra, black. Fig. 701.) Black Skimmer. Cut-vv^ater. Scissor-bill. 

 Adult (J 9, in summer: Bill with basal half carmine (drying yellowish), rest black. Iris 

 hazel. Feet carmine (drying yellowish) with black claws. Crown of head, its sides to just 



below eyes, back 

 of neck and whole 

 upper parts, 

 glossy jet-black. 

 Forehead, sides 

 of head below 

 eyes, sides of 

 neck and whole 

 under parts, pure 

 white, tinted rosy 

 or creamy in 



the nuptial season. Lining of wings black. Primaries black, with black shafts, their inner 

 webs blackish, the inner four with inner webs and tips of both webs white ; secondaries 

 white, with a space of dark color on outer and small part of inner webs, increasing in amount 

 inwards, till the inner four are dark with only white tips. Tail-feathers white, the inner 

 webs more or less obscured with dark brown. In winter: Upper parts only blackish, in- 

 terrupted with white on the hind neck. Length 16.00-20.00; extent 42.00-50.00; wing 

 13.00-1G.50; tail 4.00-G.OO, forked about 1.50; tibia? bare 1.00; tarsus 1.45; middle toe and 

 claw 1.30. Length of under mandible 3.50-4.50, of upper about 3.00; height opposite nostrils 

 0.65; width 0.45; gape 4.50 or more; fused tomia or gonys of under mandible 4.00 or less; 

 greatest depth of under mandible 0.60. 9 smaller than ^. Young at minimum dimensions 

 given. Young-of-the-year : Bill smaller than in adult, thinner, weaker, its ridges less sharply 

 defined, and the two mandibles of less unequal lengths ; striae on sides of lower mandible as 

 numerous as, but much less distinct than, in the adult. Tail shorter, less forked. Bill brown- 

 ish-black for I its length, dull horn-color at tip, fiesh-color or light reddish toward base. Feet 

 light reddish. Entire upper parts light grayish-brown, deepest on wing-coverts and inner sec- 

 ondaries, each feather edged and tipped with white, broadest and most conspicuous on wing- 

 coverts and inner secondaries. Forehead, sides of head below eyes, neck all round, edge of 

 fore-arm, inferior surfaces of wings, <md whole under parts, white. Primaries almost exactly 

 as in the adults, except that the innermost have more white, and there is a slight white termi- 

 nal margin as far as the 4th or 5th ; secondaries about as in the adults, but their brown por- 

 tions lighter. Tail white ; greater part of two middle rectrices, and inner webs of the others, 

 tinged with grayish-brown, deepest on the middle pair. Younger birds bufi" above, much 

 spotted with blackish and ashy; bill and feet livid brownish. Nestlings in down grayish bufi' 

 mottled with blackish above, white below. Atlantic and Gulf States, strictly maritime, abun- 

 dant; N. regularly to New Jersey, casually to New England and Nova Scotia; S. in winter to 

 South America; also on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Nesting like that of Terns, in commu- 

 nities; eggs dropped on the sand, about 4 in number, about 1.75 X 1.30, pure white to pale 

 bufi", spotted and splashed with dark browns and blackish, and pale neutral-tint. 



