SKIMMERS. 85 



• — Forehead, nape, and under i">arts white : back of the head black mixed 

 with white; back, wings, and tail deep pearl-gray. Im. — Similar to the pre- 

 ceding, but upper parts more or less washed and tipped with brownish ; sides 

 washed with grayish. L., 10-00; W., 8-30; T., 3-30; B., 1-00. 



Eange. — Temperate and tropical America ; breeds in the interior from 

 Kansas and Illinois to Alaska; not known to breed on the Atlantic coast, 

 where it is found from Prince Edward's Island southward as an irregular 

 migrant, occurring at times in considerable numbers. 



Washington, irregular T. V., Sept. Long Island, irregular T. V. in vary- 

 ing numbers, Aug. and Sept. Sing Sing, A. V., Sept. 



Kest^ of reeds, grasses, etc., rather closely woven, in grassy marshes or 

 vegetation floating in a slough. Eggs^ two to three, grayish olive-brown, 

 rarely whitish, heavily spotted and blotched with chocolate markings, fre- 

 quently confluent about the larger end, 1-35 x -98. 



This is an abundant species at favorable localities in the interior. 



" It seems not to subsist on fish at all, but chiefly on dragon flies 

 and various aquatic insects. It finds both its home and its food in 

 the marshes usually, but its powers of flight are so great that it may 

 also be seen far out on the dry open plains, scouring the country for 

 food at a distance of miles from its nesting ground. . . . 



" The bird may frequently be seen dashing about in a zigzag man- 

 ner so swiftly, the eye can offer no explanation of its motive until, on 

 the resumption of its ordinary flight, a large dragon fly is seen hang- 

 ing from its bill. . . ." (Thompson). 



The White-winged Black Tern {78. HydrocJieUdon leucoptera)., an Old 

 World species, has been taken once in Wisconsin, and is recorded as "seen" 

 on a lake near Winnipeg. 



79. Anous stolidus (Zi«?/.). Noddy, ^i^?.— Top of the head silvery- 

 whitish, lores black ; rest of the plumage dark sooty brown ; tail rounded, 

 the central tail-feathers longest. Im. — Similar, but the top of the head is 

 like the rest of the plumage and the silvery whitish appears as a line from 

 the bill to above the eye. L., 15-00 ; W., 10-25 ; T., 5-90 ; B., 1-70. 



Range. — "Tropical and subtropical regions; in America, from Brazil and 

 Chili north to the Gulf and South Atlantic States" (A. 0. U.). 



Nest., of sticks, grasses, etc., on a mangrove bush, in a tree, sometimes on 

 the beach or in crevices of rocks. Egg., pale butfy white, sparingly marked 

 with rufous, 2-05 x 1-35. 



This is a summer visitant to our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 

 and nests on some of the Florida keys. 



Family Rynchopid^. Skimmers. 



The three closely allied species constituting this small but distinct 

 family are found in the warmer parts of the earth. Only one species 



