40 



Birds of Xoiij n Carolina 



6. FAMILY RYNCHOPID/E. SKIMMERS 



A small family of gull-like birds with the lower mandible much longer than the 

 upper, both being excessively compressed like a thin knif(^-blade. 



/= 



Genus Rynchops Linn.) 

 26. Rynchops nigra (Linn.). Black Skimmer; "Shearwater. 



Ads. — Foriihcail, siilcs of tlio he;i(l, underparts iind tips of tho secondaries white; upper- 

 purts and winfjs l)lack: outer tail-feathers white, inner ones more or less l)rownish: base of bill 

 red, end black. L., IS.OO; W., 14. oO; T., -1.7.5; B., ^.tlO. 



Range. — Tropical and temperate America. Breeds from \'irsinia (formerly from Xew Jersey) 

 to the coast of Texas; wanders casually north to Bay of Fundy; winters from the (Julf coast 

 to Colima, Alexico, and Costa Rica; casual in the ^\'cst Indies. (Chap., Birds of E. X. A.) 



Range in North Carolina. — Coastal region in sununcr. 



Fig. 19. Bl.ack Skimsiku. 



"Late in April, or about the first of May, Black Skimmers appear along our 

 coast in small liocks which rai)itlly increase l)y the arrival of others. When in 

 .search of food, they usually go in pairs or small flocks, often strung out in long, 

 uneven columns or lines. Sometimes these unite and in large companies, and the 

 birds rest on the sand or, rising, whirl in a comjiact mass out over the water, fre- 

 quently to return in a few minutes to the spot but recently quitted. The chorus 

 of deep cries which they emit on such occasions might well be compared to that of 

 innumerable eager hounds hot upon the trail of some denizen of the forest. 



"Skimmers are largely crepuscular in their feeding habits, being much more 

 active abovit twilight. But far into the night, esjiecially when the moon is bright, 

 their weird, harsh bark may be heard as they fly slowly over the water, the under 

 mandible slanting dowTiward and cutting the surface like a knife-blade. Skimmers 

 breed with us in .June, July, and August, on several of the islands and beaches in 

 Dare, Hyde, and Carteret counties. Often their nests are located near those of the 

 terns, which usually resort to the same region for purposes of nidification. In 

 June, 1907, a storm tide swept a thousand eggs of the Buyal Tern from their nests 



