THE SCISSOR-B1LLS. 203 



V-shape adopted by many birds of passage. Some parties may soon be seen returning from the water, 

 satisfied with their meal, while others are making their way towards the shallow bay from which 

 breakfast has to be procured. Towards 10 o'clock, a.m., they begin to congregate upon their favourite 

 sand-bank, or an inland group of trees, and here they repose after their toil, some lazily digesting their 

 food, and others more actively employed in oiling and preening their feathers, a proceeding in which 

 they are occupied for a considerable length of time, their long, unmanageable bill being but little 

 adapted to the work. When this is accomplished, they take a kind of siesta, some perched on trees, 

 others on the ground, the former generally sitting bolt upright upon the branches, with their necks 

 resting on their breasts, while the latter generally lie flat on their bellies, and doze away the noontide 

 hours. Between three and four o'clock the whole assembly begins to wake up and prepare for another 

 fishing excursion, in which they are engaged till sunset, after which they at once set off to their sleep- 

 ing places, situated on a lonely sand-bank, or some island covered with trees, upon the branches of 

 which they pass the night." Other naturalists have commented on the peculiarity of the Pelican 

 perching on trees, the most unlikely resting-place for a bird of such heavy bulk. " It was a bold 

 Pelican," observes Mr. Osbert Salvin, " that first perched upon a tree ; a bird less adapted to such a 

 resting-place could hardly be imagined. Yet there they sit on the mangrove boughs for hours, preen- 

 ing their feathers with their long, hooked bills, an amusement they seem to take special delight in, all 

 the time keeping their balance with ease, even when a strong wind tries the security of their footing. 

 Others are resting on a spit of sand that runs out from one end of the small cay, and on the stranded 

 logs, of which plenty lie scattered about along the reefs even of the outermost atolls, being floated out 

 of every stream during the floods of the wet season ; more are still fishing in the shallows. There are 

 few sea-birds more interesting to watch than Pelicans fishing : there is a sort of methodical determina- 

 tion about the way in which they set to work that seems to warrant success ; and I have watched 

 them time after time dart down, seldom failing, on coming to the surface, to bolt the fish they have 

 secured. When a bird does miss, a look of disappointment is ludicrously shown by the dejected way 

 in which it hangs down its bill. Four or five generally rise in company, and flying round to get the 

 necessary impetus and height, with neck drawn in and beak slightly depressed they suddenly, as it 

 were, stop short in the air, and dash, with outstretched neck, into the water upon the shoal of fish, 

 which has, perhaps, shifted a little from the spot on which the last descent was made. They rest but 

 a moment on the water only time enough to bolt their prey, which is done by throwing the bill 

 upwards, thus slightly distending the pouch, a ready bag to receive the fish, before held between the 

 mandibles." Mr. Salvin is here writing of the American Pelican, the only bird of the genus which 

 dives at all. 



THE TENTH ORDER OF BIRDS. THE SEA BIRDS (GAVLE). 



These elegant and beautifully-plumaged birds may be divided into two large families, the Gulls 

 and the Petrels, all of them being long-winged birds (Longipenn.es of Cuvier), and consequently of very 

 powerful flight. In the Gulls the hind toe is small, elevated above the level of the ground, and not 

 united by a web to the other toes. The nostrils are placed laterally in the bill, and are rather low down 

 in the upper mandible, as well as longitudinal. The general colour of the plumage is grey and white, 

 the latter predominating. There are three sub-families of the Gulls, the Scissor-bills, the Terns, and 

 the true Gulls. 



THE FIRST SUB-FAMILY OF THE LARID^E, OR GULLS. THE SCISSOR-BILLS, 



OR SKIMMERS (Rhynchopina). 



In these peculiar birds the bill is the characteristic feature, being long and thin, the mandibles 

 very narrow and compressed, the lower one longer than the upper one. In other respects they much 

 resemble Terns, the wing being very long and sharply pointed, the tail forked, and the feet small. 

 Only three species are known, one being found in America, another in India, and a third on the Nile 

 and the Red Sea. Dr. Jerdon gives the following account* of the Indian Scissor-bill (Rhytichops 

 albicollis) : 



" This remarkable bird is found throughout India, frequenting rivers, especially the larger ones. 



* " Birds of India," Vol. III., p. 947. 



