SKIMMERS 65 



the birds and are usually caught on the wing. The birds are 

 said to fly about in a zig-zag manner over the surface of the 

 water catching their prey and doubtless also feed some on the 

 aquatic insects swimming near the surface. 



Family RYNCHOPODIDiE. Skimmers. 

 Genus RYNCHOPS Linnseus. 



80. Rynchops nigra Linn. Black Skimmer; Scissor-bill ; 

 Razor-bill; Cut-water; Shear-water; Sea-crow; Sea-dog. 



Plumage in summer adults : black above and on wings ; forehead, sides of 

 head, outer tail feathers, tips of secondaries, inner primaries and below white ; 

 inner tail feathers brownish ; basal portion of bill red, end black ; feet red. 

 Plumage in winter adults : white collar across back of neck ; more brownish 

 color above ; otherwise similar. Immature : above buff with central black 

 to many of the feathers ; below white. Wing 14.70 to 15.50 ; culmen 2.70 ; 

 lower mandible 3.00 to 4.00. 



Geog. Dist. — Coasts of warmer part of America, breeding north to New 

 Jersey and occasionally straggling north to the Bay of Fundy. 



County Records. — Knox; observed at Matinicus, (Smith, F. & S. 20, p. 

 205;. Washington; accidental, (Boardman). York; taken at Wells Bay, 

 (Smith, 1. c). 



There are no records of this species having been taken in 

 Maine for many years. Along parts of the Virginia and 

 Florida coasts, and bordering the Gulf of Mexico they nest in 

 large colonies, depositing three to five eggs in hollows in the 

 sand during the month of June. The eggs are indeed very 

 handsome, being white or pale buffy white, heavily spotted and 

 boldly blotched with black, umber, lilac and brown. Five 

 eggs, taken from a slight hollow in a ridge composed of shells 

 cast by the sea, back of the beach at Shell Island, Louisiana, 

 June 12, 1896, measure 1.80 x'^.Sl 1.69, x 1.31, 1.71 x 1.31, 

 1.69 X 1.29, 1.79 X 1.35. Thousands of birds were said to 

 nest in this colony. The birds feed by skimming along the 

 surface of the water, their prolonged lower mandible grazing 

 the surface and scooping up various surface swimming crusta- 

 ceans and other small marine life. The cry of this species has 

 been compared to the barking of a dog. 



