396 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Longipennes ; Long- winged. Skimmers Singular Bill. Terns, 

 or Sea-Swallows Anecdote of. Gulls Capacity for endur- 

 ing Cold Voracious feeders Breeding Places. South Stack 

 described. Albatross Roaming Habits. Tristan D'Acunha 

 Resort for Breeding Voracity. Petrels Nests Feed at 

 Night Superstition of Sailors respecting. Brevipennes ; 

 Short- winged. Divers. Crested Glebe Great Destroyers of 

 Fish. Guillemots. Razor- Bills. Puffins and Auks. 



TABLE XXIX. (See p. 23.) 



ORDER 6. PALMIPEDES. TRIBE 3. LONGIPENNES. 



(Long -winged] . 



THIS tribe comprises : 1. Rhynchops, or Skimmers ; 

 2. Sterna, Terns; 3. Larus, Gulls; 4. Diomedea, Alba- 

 tross ; 5. Procellaria, Petrels. 



All these are long-winged birds, proper to the main 

 ocean, and, by means of their powers of flight, are spread 

 widely over the world. They may be known by either 

 having no back toe at all, or by that toe being free, 

 that is, not united with the others by a membrane, form- 

 ing one large web, as in the preceding tribe ; -and by their 

 bill, without indentations, but bent at the end, as in 

 the Procellaria, or Petrels, the extremity of which seems 

 to consist of a piece fastened on, or pointed, as in all the 

 rest. 



The Skimmer (Rhynchops) derives its name from the 

 way in which it feeds, flying generally so close to the water, 

 that the under mandible just skims below the surface, while 

 the upper is kept wide open, so that on its meeting with 

 any floating substance, it closes immediately upon it. It is 

 a bird with little feet, long wings, and a forked tail ; but its 

 bill is so extraordinary, that there is no mistaking it for the 



