344 VEKTEiniATA. 



Masks SnKAiiwATEu, /'. An;/lnrum,k fourteen inches long; found in the Atlantic, on the coasts 

 of Europe and North Am<Tic;i, The Dusky Sheahwateii, P. obscurus ; the Sooty Siiear- 

 WATKR, /*. ftiii'/inosiis ; and the t'lNEUKofs rKTUKL, p. cincrcuft, arc otlicr American species. 



(niiits KlIVNCIIOrS: Ji/ii/»cIioj».% iiitludc-s the Black Skimmkr, Ji. nir/ra ; it is a bird of 

 l)assjij,'i' ill the United States, appearing on our coasts in May. It breeds along the shores of Cape 

 Mavand New Jersey, the nest consisting of a depression in the sand ; the eggs arc usually three. 

 "The siiii,nilar conformation of the bill of this bird," says Wilson, in a striking passage, "has cx- 

 rit*-d mufh surprise ; and some writers, measuring the divine proportions of nature by their own 

 i-ontraetfd staiulards of con(H'i)ti(>n, in the i)]oiititude of their vanity, have pronounced it to be 'a 

 laine and defective weapon.' Such ignorant presumption, or rather impiety, ought to hide its 

 head in the dust, on a calm display of the peculiar construction of this singular bird, and the 

 wisdom bv which it is so admirably adapted to the purposes or mode of existence for which it was 

 intentled. The Shearwater is formed for skimming, while on the wing, the surface of the sea for 

 its food, whicli consists of small fish, shrimps, young fry, ifcc, whose usual haunts are near the 

 shore and toward the surfjice. That the lower mandible, when dipped into and cleaving the 

 water, mitrht not retard the bird's way, it is thinned and sharpened like the blade of a knife ; the 

 upper mandible, being at such times elevated above water, is curtailed in its length, as being less 

 nccessarv, but tapering gradually to a point, that, on shutting, it may offer less opposition. To 

 prevent inconvenience from the rushing of the Avater, the mouth is confined to the mere opening 

 of the gullet, which, indeed, prevents mastication taking place ; but the stomach, or gizzard, to 

 which this business is solely allotted, is of uncommon hardness, strength, and muscularity, far sur- 

 passing, in these respects, any other water-bird with which I am acquainted. To all these is 

 added a vast expansion of wing, to enable the bird to sail with sufficient celerity, while dipping 

 in the water. The general proportion of the length of our swiftest hawks and swallows to their 

 breadth, is as one to two ; but in the present case, as there is not only the resistance of the air, 

 but also that of the water, to overcome, a still greater volume of wing is given, the Shearwater 

 measuring nineteen inches in length, and upward of forty-four in extent. In short, whoever has 

 attentively examined this curious apparatus, and observed the possessor, with his ample wings, 

 long, bending neck, and lower mandible, occasionally dipped into and plowing the surface, and 

 the facility with which he procures his food, cannot but consider it a mere playful amusement, 

 when compared with the dashing immersions of the tern, the gull, or the fish-hawk, who, to the su- 

 perficial observer, appear so superiorly accommodated. 



" The Shearwater is most frequently seen skimming close along shore about the first of the 

 flood, at which time the young frv, shrimp, <to., are most abundant in such places. There are 

 also numerous inlets among the low islands between the sea-beach and main-land of Cape May, 

 where I liave observed the Shearwaters, eight or ten in company, passing and repassing, at high 

 water, particular estuaries of those creeks that run up into the salt marshes, dipping, with ex- 

 tended neck, their open bills into the water, with as much apparent ease as swallows glean up 

 flies from the surfiice. On examining the stomachs of several of these, shot at the time, they con- 

 tained numbers of a small fish, usually called silver-sides, from a broad line of a glossy silver color 

 that runs from the gills to the tail. The mouths of these inlets abound with this fry or fish, prob- 

 ably feeding on the various matters washed down from the marshes. 



"The voice of the Shearwater is harsh and screaming, resembling that of the Tern, but 

 stronger. It flies with a slowly-flapping flight, dipping, occasionally, with steady, expanded wings 

 and bended neck, its lower mandible into the sea, and with open mouth receiving its food as it 

 plows along the surface. It is rarely seen swimming on the water ; but frequently rests in large 

 parties on the sand-bars at low water. One of these birds, which I wounded in the wing, and 

 kept in the room beside me for several days, soon became tame, and even familiar. It generally 

 stood with its legs erect, its body horizontal, and its neck rather extended. It frequently reposed 

 on its belly, and stretching its neck, rested its long bill on the floor. It spent most of its time in 

 this way, or in dressing and arranging its plumage with its long, scissors-like bill, which it seemed 

 to perform with great ease and dexterity. It refused every kind of food oflfered it, and I am per- 

 suaded never feeds but when on the wing." 



