376 LARID^E : JAEGERS, GULLS, TERNS, ETC. 



are probably, with one exception, the first detected 

 within the limits of the State " (Bull. Nutt. Club, iv, 1879, 

 p. 108). Mr. Merriam says: '*A rare visitor, occurring 

 chiefly in fall. Though essentially an inland species, 

 it is sometimes found along the coast during migra- 

 tions. Capt. Brooks took one specimen near Goose 

 Island, Conn., about twelve years ago, the only one 

 he has ever seen. Mr. George Bird Grinnell informs me 

 that his brother shot a bird of this species late in August, 

 near Milford, Conn." Through Mr. Deane, Mr. G. A. 

 Boardman records three from Grand Menan, and writes, 

 "This Tern seems to be of unusual occurrence on the 

 Maine coast" (Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 63). Ob- 

 viously, then, in view of these records, the Black Tern 

 must take its place as a regular New England bird, 

 though a rare one, and one which is not known to 

 breed with us. Unlike our species of Sterna, it is not 

 specially a maritime bird, and its usual breeding places 

 are swamps and sloughs in the interior of North America, 

 especially the Western States and Territories. 



BLACK SKIMMER. 

 RHYNCHOPS NIGRA L. 



Chars. Among the singular bills of birds which frequently excite 

 our wonder, that of the Skimmer is one of the most anomalous. 

 The under mandible is much longer than the upper, compressed 

 like a knife-blade ; its end is obtuse ; its sides come abruptly 

 together, and are completely soldered ; the upper edge is as 

 sharp as the under, and fits a groove in the upper mandible ; 

 the jaw-bone, viewed apart, looks like a short-handled pitchfork. 

 The upper mandible is also compressed, but less so, nor is it 



