THE BIRD BOOK 



SKIMMERS. Family RYNCHOPID^E 



Skimmers are Tern-like birds having a very strangely developed bill. The 

 lower mandible is much longer than the upper and very thin, the upper edge 

 being as sharp as the lower. The lower mandible is rounded at the end while 

 the upper is more pointed. Young Skimmers are said to have both mandibles 

 of the same length, the abnormal development not appearing until after flight. 

 Skimmers are very graceful birds, and, as implied by their name, they skim 

 over the surface of the water, rising and falling with the waves, and are said 

 to pick up their food by dropping the lower mandible below the surface, its thin 

 edge cutting the water like a knife. There are four species of Skimmers, only 

 one of which is found in North America. 



80. BLACK SKIMMER. Rynchops nigra. 



Range. The South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, breeding from New Jersey 

 southward. The Black Skimmer is about eighteen inches in length, and be- 

 sides the remarkable bill is a bird of striking plumage; the forehead, ends of 

 the secondaries, tail feathers and under parts are white; the rest of the plum- 

 age is black and the basal half of the bill is crimson. Skimmers nest in large 

 communities, the same as do the Terns, laying their eggs in hollows in the 



sand. They are partially nocturnal in their 

 habits and their hoarse barking cries may 



- - " , be heard after the shadows of night have 



x 



4^ enveloped the earth. Fishermen call them 



llfc * 4 ). % A by the names of "Cut-water" and "Sea Dog." 



' . \ The nesting season commences in May and 



* . . * 



continues through June and July. They lay 



from three to five eggs, having a creamy 

 or yellowish buff ground, blotched with 

 black, chestnut and lilac. Size 1.75x1.30. 



Buffy yellow Data. Cobb's Is., Va., June 8, 1894. Three 



eggs laid in a hollow on the beach. No 

 nest. 



58 



