FAMILY XXIV. 



LONGIPENNES, ILLIGER. 



GENUS LXI. RHYNCHOPS, LI.NNJJUS. 



246. imrxcaops NIGRA, LINNAEUS AND WILSON. 



BLACK SKIMMER, OR SHEERWATER. 

 WILSON, PLATE LX. FIG IV. EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 



THIS truly singular fowl is the only species of its 

 tribe hitherto 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 f 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 account of the general coldness of the 

 spring there, the sheerwater does not begin to lay until 

 early in June, at which time these birds form themselves 

 into small societies, fifteen or twenty pair frequently 

 breeding within a few yards of each other. The nest 

 is a mere hollow formed in the sand, without any other 

 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 



