GENUS 92. RYNCHOPS. SKIMMER. 



SPECIES. RHYNCHOPS NIGRrf. 



BLACK SKIMMER, OR SHEARWATER. 



[Plate LX. Fig. 4.] 



Jlrct. Zool. JVo. 445. CATESBY, i, 90. Le Bee en Ciseaux, BUFF. 

 vni, 454, lab. 36. PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 3530.* 



THIS truly singular fowl is the only species of its tribe hith- 

 erto discovered. Like many others, it is a bird of passage in 

 the United States; and makes its first appearance, on the shores 

 of New Jersey, early in May. It resides there, as well as along 

 the whole Atlantic coast, during the summer; and retires early 

 in September. Its favourite haunts are low sand-bars, raised 

 above the reach of the summer tides; and also dry flat sands on 

 the beach, in front of the ocean. On such places it usually 

 breeds along the shores of Cape May, in New Jersey. On oc- 

 count of the general coldness of the spring there, the Shear- 

 water does not begin to lay until early in June, at which time 

 these birds form themselves into small societies, fifteen or twen- 

 ty pair frequently breeding within a few yards of each other. 

 The nest is a mere hollow, formed in the sand, without any 

 materials. The female lays three eggs, almost exactly oval, of 

 a clear white, marked with large round spots of brownish black, 

 and intermixed with others of pale Indian ink. These eggs 

 measure one inch and three quarters, by one inch and a quarter. 

 Half a bushel and more of eggs has sometimes been collected 

 from one sand bar, within the compass of half an acre. These 

 eggs have something of a fishy taste; but are eaten by many 

 people on the coast. The female sits on them only during the 



* Pi. Enl. 357. 



