SKIMMERS 



(Family Rynchopidce) 



Black Skimmer 



(Rynchops nigra) 



Called also: SCISSOR BILL; CUT-WATER 



Length \6 to 20 inches. 



Male and Female Crown of head, back of neck, and all upper 

 parts, glossy black; forehead, sides of head and neck, and 

 under parts white, the latter suffused with cream or pale 

 rose in the nuptial season. Lining of wings black. Broad 

 patch on wing, the tips of the secondaries, white; also the 

 outer tail feathers, while the inner ones are brownish. 

 Lower half of bill, measuring from 3. 50 to 4. 50 inches, is 

 about one inch larger than upper half. Basal half of bill car- 

 mine; the rest black. Bill rounded at the ends, and com- 

 pressed like the blade of a knife. Feet carmine, with black 

 claws. 



Range " Warmer parts of America, north on the Atlantic coast to 

 New Jersey, and casually to the Bay of Fundy." A. O. U. 



Season May to September. Summer resident so far north as 

 New Jersey; a transient summer visitor beyond. 



Closely related as the skimmers are to both gulls and terns, 

 it is small wonder the three species constituting this distinct 

 family should be honored by a separate classification on account 

 of the extraordinary bill that is their chief characteristic. ' ' Among 

 the singular bills of birds that frequently excite our wonder," says 

 Dr. Coues, "that of the skimmers is one of the most anomalous. 

 The under mandible is much longer than the upper, compressed 

 like a knife-blade; its end is obtuse; its sides come abruptly 

 together and are completely soldered; the upper edge is as sharp 

 as the under, and fits a groove in the upper mandible; the jaw- 



59 



