XII 



BLACK SKIMMER; Scisson-BiLL; CUT-WATEB 

 80. Rynchopsnigra 



This freakish-looking bird is marked by a black back, 

 white outer tail feathers and belly, and under mandible 

 an inch or more longer than the upper; its lower bill, 

 legs and feet are bright carmine. It is about nineteen 

 inches long and its nest is a rounded excavation made 

 by the bird's moulding its body into the yielding sand. 

 Four cream-colored eggs with dark brown splotches are 

 laid in the sand spit. A barren sand spit is selected for 

 a nesting site. (Fig. 15.) 



The Black Skimmer is strictly maritime and is rather 

 abundant along the Florida and Texas gulf coastline, 

 breeding in large numbers near Corpus Christ!, on the 

 low, sandy beaches in the Laguna de la Madre. The bird 

 is a typical migrant, appearing along our southern coast 

 in May and breeding in colonies. 



Chapman, in his admirable description of the Black 

 Skimmer, says : ' l On Cobb 's Island, when the nests were 

 reached, the uproar increased and with it the excite- 

 ment and boldness of the particular bird whose eggs 

 or nest I chanced to be standing near. ' ' They repeatedly 

 charged him. 



The early ornithologist maintained that these birds 

 incubate only during the night and in stormy weather. 

 This has been proved to be a mistake, as both birds have 

 repeatedly been seen on the nest at all hours of the 

 day or night. They have a harsh voice of a scolding char- 

 acter. As they feed they skim along the shoreline, 

 the lower mandible plowing a furrow through the shal- 

 low water, the mouth open to pick up surface minnows 

 and other edible things, as small crabs and crustaceous 

 denizens of the seashore. 



One day in March, while bird-picturing along a sandy 

 beach of Tampa Bay, Florida, I discovered a flock of one 

 hundred or more of these remarkable and unusual look- 



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