82 Bird - Lore 



bill, which is longer than the upper, projects below the surface of the 

 water, and when it comes in contact with a small fish, the latter 

 simply slide up the narrow, inclined plane into the Skimmer's 

 mouth. 



Formerly they bred in great numbers along the eastern coast of 

 our Middle and Southern Atlantic states, and only a few years ago 



NEST AND EGGS OF BLACK SKIMMER 



were abundant on the New Jersey coast. They have been crowded 

 out, however, by encroaching civilization, and hunted down by the 

 milliners' agents and the egg-collectors. In June, 1898, I found them 

 on Cobb's Island, Virginia, to the number of about two hundred pairs, 

 where, not long ago, they bred in thousands. 



As the eggs are entirely exposed, the parents are relieved to 

 some extent from the duty of incubation by the heat of the sun, 

 and as soon as the young hatch they run about like chickens. 



After getting two good pictures of the Skimmer and her eggs, 

 I turned my attention to a Gull-billed Tern, and while standing over 



GULL-BILLED TERN 



her nest, which contained two eggs and one fuzzy young, just 

 hatched, I obtained a rather remarkable picture of the parent bird 

 flying straight at the camera, nicely illustrating what a small sectional 

 area a bird occupies while flying. 



