68 



TWO ATLANTIC COAST ISLANDS 



The nests are hollows in the sand, often only a few feet 

 apart and with absolutely no lining, the Skimmer's bill 

 being evidently not adapted to gathering nesting material or 

 constructing a nest. The four creamy white eggs are con- 

 spicuously marked with black, and are by no means difficult 

 to see ; but the downy young so closely harmonize with their 

 surroundings in color, that they are far less easy to discover 



Skimmers on Their Nests 

 Note their conspicuousness, even at a distance 



than the young of any beach-nesting bird with which I am 

 familiar. Their partial invisibility, it should be observed, 

 is not due to their resemblance in form to their surround- 

 ings, or to the necessity of distinguishing them from peb- 

 bles or shells, as is often the case with young Terns. It is 

 purely a matter of color and disposition of color which 

 makes them fade into the bare sand about them. Like most 

 young birds, they instinctively know that safety lies only in 

 unquestioning obedience to the parental command, which 

 warns them of threatening danger, and bids them squat 

 close to the sand with neck stretched out and eyes half 

 closed. I could scarcely believe, for a moment, that the first 

 one seen in this attitude was a living bird, but behold ! when 



