General Notes. 1 25 



Rhynchops nigra. — An early Record for the Massachusetts 

 Coast. — Champlain,* while cruising along the sandj shores of Cape 

 Cod on a voyage of exploration in July, 1605, makes mention of the 

 Black Skimmer, as his narration, p. 87, shows. 



" We saw also a sea-bird with a black beak, the upper part slightly 

 aquiline, four inches long and in the form of a lancet; namely, the 

 lower part representing the handle and the upper the blade, which is- 

 thin, sharp on both sides, and shorter by a third than the other; which 

 circumstance is a matter of astonishment to many persons, who cannot 

 comprehend how it is possible for this bird to eat with such a beak. 

 It is of the size of a pigeon, the wings being very long in proportion to 

 the body, the tail short, as also the legs, which are red ; the feet being 

 small and flat. The plumage on the upper part is gray-brown, and on 

 the under part pure white. They go always in flocks along the sea- 

 shore, like the pigeons with us." 



That this species was found on our shores early in this centin-y is 

 proved by the older natives of the Cape telling me, since the bird's recent 

 occurrence, that "them cutwater or shearwater birds used to be with us 

 summer times." Also Mr. Brewster informs me that Nantucket fishermen 

 assert that Skimmers bred on Muskegat Island fifty years ago. — H. A. 

 Purdie, Ne.ivton, Mass. 



Notes on the Habits of the Kittiwake Gull. — Some fishermen 

 whom I lately employed to get a few Kittiwake Gulls on the winter fishing 

 grounds oft' Swampscott, Massachusetts, gave me thefollowing interesting 

 account of the habits of this species, and the way in which 7ny specimens 

 were procured. 



A number of small schooners sail from Swampscott every winter morn- 

 ing, and reach the fishing banks, which are some twelve miles off" shore 

 about daybreak. The men then take to their dories, and buckets of bait 

 — general!}' cod-livers or other refuse — are thrown out to attract the fish 

 to the spot. Of this custom the Kittiwakes — or "Pinny Owls," as these men 

 invariably call them — are well aware, and swarms of them quickly collect 

 around the boats to pick up the morsels before they sink. They are very 

 tame, and if one of the flock is shot the others hover over it as Terns 

 will do on similar occasions. The usual way of taking them, however, 

 is with hook and line, the bait being allowed to float off" on the surface, 

 when it is quickly seized by one of the greedy horde. In this manner 

 great numbers are annually taken by the fishermen, who either skin and 

 stew them or use the flesh for bait. I was assured that a '"Pinny Owl" 

 stew is by no means an unpalatable dish. 



After the morning fishing is at an end the vessels start for their an- 

 chorage in Swampscott harbor, and the fish are dressed on the way. This 

 gives the Gulls another chance which is not neglected, for the entire flock 



* Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, translated from the French by Charles Pomeroy 

 Otis, Ph.D., with historical illustrations, and a Memoir, by Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, A. 

 M. Vol. II, 1604-1610, Boston, published by Prince Society, 1878. 



