BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



6. FAMILY RYNCHOPID>E. SKIMMERS 



A small family of gull -like birds with the lower mandible much longer than the 

 upper, both being excessively compressed like a thin knife-blade. 



Genus Rynchops (Linn.) 

 26. Rynchops nigra (Linn.}. BLACK SKIMMER; "SHEARWATER." 



Ads. Forehead, sides of the head, underparts and tips of the secondaries white; upper- 

 parts and wings black; outer tail-feathers white, inner ones more or less brownish; base of bill 

 red, end black. L., 18.00; W., 14.50; T., 4.75; B., 2.60. 



Range. Tropical and temperate America. Breeds from Virginia (formerly from New Jersey) 

 to the coast of Texas; wanders casually north to Bay of Fundy; winters from the Gulf coast 

 to Colima, Mexico, and Costa Rica; casual in the West Indies. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region in summer. 



FIG. 19. BLACK SKIMMER. 



"Late in April, or about the first of May, Black Skimmers appear along our 

 coast in small flocks which rapidly increase by the arrival of others. When in 

 search of food, they usually go in pairs or small flocks, often strung out in long, 

 uneven columns or lines. Sometimes these unite and in large companies, and the 

 birds rest on the sand or, rising, whirl in a compact mass out over the water, fre- 

 quently to return in a few minutes to the spot but recently quitted. The chorus 

 of deep cries which they emit on such occasions might well be compared to that of 

 innumerable eager hounds hot upon the trail of some denizen of the forest. 



"Skimmers are largely crepuscular in their feeding habits, being much more 

 active about twilight. But far into the night, especially when the moon is bright, 

 their weird, harsh bark may be heard as they fly slowly over the water, the under 

 mandible slanting downward and cutting the surface like a knife-blade. Skimmers 

 breed with us in June, July, and August, on several of the islands and beaches in 

 Dare, Hyde, and Carteret counties. Often their nests are located near those of the 

 terns, which usually resort to the same region for purposes of nidification. In 

 June, 1907, a storm tide swept a thousand eggs of the Royal Tern from their nests 



