442 GULLS. 



wings, which sometimes extend fully forty inches, the skimmer darts swiftly 

 over the surface of the ocean, dipping the extremity of its curious bill into the 

 water as it moves along, for the purpose of capturing the small fishes and 

 Crustacea upon which it feeds. "This truly singular bird is the only species 

 of its tribe hitherto discovered. Its favourite haunts are low sand-bars, raised 

 above the reach of the summer tides, and also dry flat sands on the beach in 

 front of the ocean. This bird is formed for skimming, while on the wing, the 

 surface of the sea for its food, which consists of small fish, shrimps, young fry, 

 etc., whose usual haunts are near the shore and towards the surface. That 

 the lower mandible when dipped into the water may not retard the bird's pro- 

 gress, it is thinned and sharpened like the blade of a knife ; the upper man- 

 dible, being at such times elevated above the water, is curtailed in its length, 

 as being less necessary, but tapering gradually to a point, that, on shutting, 

 it may offer less opposition. To prevent inconvenience from the rushing of 

 the water, the mouth is confined to the mere opening of the gullet, which, in- 

 deed, prevents mastication from taking place there ; but the stomach or gizzard, 

 to which this business is solely allotted, is of uncommon hardness, strength, 

 and muscularity, surpassing, in these respects, any bird with which I am 

 acquainted. To all these is added a vast expansion of wing, to enable the 

 rhynchops to sail with sufficient celerity while dipping in the water. The 

 general proportion of our swiftest hawks and swallows is as one to two ; but 

 in the present case, as there is not only the resistance of the air, but also 

 that of the water, to overcome, a still greater volume of wing is given. In 

 short, whoever has examined this curious apparatus, and observed the pos- 

 sessor, with his ample wings, long bending neck, and lower mandible occa- 

 sionally dipped into and ploughing the surface, and the facility with which he 

 procures his food, cannot but consider it a mere playful amusement, when 

 compared with the dashing immersions of the tern, the gull, and the fish- 

 hawk, who, to the superficial observer, appear so superiorly accommodated." 

 —Wilson. 



The skimmer does not begin to lay till early in June, at which time these 

 birds form themselves into small societies, fifteen or twenty pairs frequently 

 breeding within a few yards of each other. The nest is a mere hollow formed 

 in the sand, without other materials. The female lays three eggs, almost 

 exactly oval, of clear white marked with large round spots of brownish black, 

 and intermixed with others the colour of pale Indian ink. 



Sub-Family II L 

 THE TERNS. STERNIN/E. 



General Characteristics. — Bill more or less lengthened, generally slender, straight, 

 with the culmen sometimes curved at the tip, which is acute; the nostrils basal, 

 latoral, and linear ; the wings very long and pointed ; the tail long, and more or less 

 forked ; the tarsi usually short and slender ; the toes of various lengths and more or 

 less webbed, the hind toe long and slender. 



These birds arc distributed throughout both hemispheres, mi- 

 grating in flocks from place to place, according to the season. 



