ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



167 



HK.\n OF ADUI.T SKIMMKR. 



port him, so he shoves himself along ihe firound 

 instead of walking — ergo his name of identifica- 

 tion, Sprawler. The other tern has gained strength 

 very quickly and ex])lores his entire range. For 

 convenience, I call him Samson. 



Skimmer — a pathetic little pinch of sand-colored 

 tiown — keeps his flattened bill tight shut, and 

 cheeps through his nostrils. I force food into his 

 mouth, when it is swallowed with evident satisfac- 

 tion, hut unlike the tern.s he gives no hint of how 

 In's ]iarents proceed to get food into him. Ills 

 hill is very different from that of a tern, licing 

 much thinner and higher, and from the l"ir>t the 

 lower mandible is longer than the upper. 



.\11 the birds refuse salt water, but eagerly swal 

 low drops of fresh water from a medicine dropjier. 



July 26. — The little heron has an enormous 

 ga|)c, and is able to swallow a very large pellet of 

 macerated tish. ^'esterday his abdomen pro 

 truded to such an extent that he could not maintain 

 an u|)right position. Now it is reduced .so that he 

 can sit on his tarsi and his promise of a tail, and 

 frantically wa\e his skinny wings, indicating 

 thereby an inward want. 



Once he tumbled out of his bed of twigs u]ion 

 the sand, and the distress which this material — 

 the delight of the terns — caused him, showed how 

 totally unlike are the needs of young birds. He 



rolled over and over, his mouth, nostrils and eyes 

 fdling with sand — a mo.st miserable object until 1 

 rescued and washed him. 



I undertook to cure the weak-limbed Sprawler, 

 and tied a short thread to each tarsus, bringing 

 his legs together. .At once he stood upright, 

 trcml)lingly at first. 



Skimmer, although taking food with siu h dilTi 

 ( ulty, has made the record for pecking. Early 

 this morning he pecked at a piece of cheesecloth, 

 then at some sand, and Imally ))icked up and ate 

 a liny piece of fish. Samson, who follows Skimmer 

 about, watched him peck, and .soon after pecked 

 a number of tipnes ineffectively at black specks. 



Toward evening the terns refuse food and be- 

 come very restless, toddling or running about their 

 l)ox, trying to climb up the sides and showing very 

 plainly that they desire or expect something, but 

 what it is I cannot guess. 



Samson, although twenty-four hours \ounger, i> 

 ahead of Sprawler in powers of oii.servation and 

 coordination of movement — probably due to his 

 greater abihty to get about. The young birds 

 were fed every fifteen or thirty minutes all day. 



July 27. — A laughing gull broke its shell this 

 morning, but could not escape from it. M 1 1 a. 11. 

 I helped him emerge, when he instantly gave a 

 harsh, rolling call. As there were many valuable 

 duck and other birds' eggs in the incubator, the 

 temperature could not be lowered for the hatch- 

 ing birds and, owing to this, the gull dried while 

 partly in the shell and therefore has a permanent 

 bend in his neck. He is very lively, however, anfl 

 at 4 p. jr. eagerly swallowed some fish. 



HEAD OF IMM.'VTURE SKIM ^ 



