ORDER II. LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS. 



LONGIPENNES. 



Family 1. SKUAS and JAEGERS. STERCORARJID^. 4 species. 

 Family 2. GULLS and TERNS. LARID^. 37 species, 1 subspecies. 

 Family 3. SKIMMERS. RYNCHOPID^:. 1 species. 



Skuas and Jaegers are pirates among the birds of the high seas. 

 Bold and dashing, they pursue the swift flying Terns or much larger 

 Gulls with equal success, forcing them to drop the fish they have cap- 

 tured and catching it ere it reaches the water. 



Gulls (Subfamily Larin<z) are usually considered so characteristic of 

 the sea that 'Sea Gull' is the name popularly applied to all members of 

 the subfamily to which they belong. Several species, however, are 

 equally at home, both in the winter and when nesting, on the larger 

 bodies of water in the interior, and one species is rarely or never found 

 on our sea coasts. 



Gulls nest on the ground, on drifts of marsh-grass, on cliffs, and 

 one species, at least, among American Gulls (the Herring Gull) has as 

 a result of persecution, acquired the habit of nesting in trees. 



Gulls feed from the surface of the water, picking up their food with 

 their strongly curved bills in passing or while hovering, not by plung- 

 ing into the water, as do the Terns. They are, in fact, the scavengers 

 of the water, and perform a service of great value to mankind by de- 

 vouring the bodies of various forms of aquatic animals which, in dying, 

 come to the surface and, if cast ashore, might, in decaying, prove a 

 source of disease. 



For this reason it was especially unfortunate that the plumage of 

 these birds became fashionable for millinery purposes, with the result 

 that thousands of them were destroyed for their wings and breasts. In 

 this country, however, through the efforts of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union and the Audubon Societies, laws have been passed pro- 

 hibiting the killing of these beautiful and useful birds, and wardens 

 have been placed on their nesting grounds to protect them. 



Gulls often rest in great flocks on the water, sitting high up and 

 riding the waves buoyantly, but the Terns (Subfamily Sternintz), after 

 they have acquired the power of flight, are rarely seen on the water. 

 They are lighter, more active birds than the Gulls, with longer wings 

 and tails, and sharper, more pointed bills. They feed largely on small 



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