204 BLACK SKIMMER. 
their feet, and watch all your movements. If you advance nearer, the 
whole flock suddenly taking to wing, fill the air with their harsh cries, 
and soon reaching a considerable height, range widely around, until, your 
patience being exhausted, you abandon the place. When thus taking 
to wing in countless multitudes, the snowy white of their under parts 
gladdens your eye, but anon, when they all veer through the air, the black 
of their long wings and upper parts produces a remarkable contrast to 
the blue sky above. Their aérial evolutions on such occasions are pecu- 
liar and pleasing, as they at times appear to be intent on removing to a 
great distance, then suddenly round to, and once more pass almost over 
you, flying so close together as to appear like a black cloud, first as- 
cending, and then rushing down like a torrent. Should they see that 
you are retiring, they wheel a few times close over the ground, and 
when assured that there is no longer any danger, they alight pell-mell, 
with wings extended upwards, but presently closed, and once more 
huddling together they lie down on the ground, to remain until forced 
off by the tide. When the Skimmers repose on the shores of the main- 
land during high-water, they seldom continue long on the same spot, 
as if they felt doubtful of security; and a person watching them at 
such times might suppose that they were engaged in searching for 
food. 
No sooner has the dusk of evening arrived than the Skimmers be- 
gin to disperse, rise from their place of rest singly, in pairs, or in 
parties from three or four to eight or ten, apparently according to the 
degree of hunger they feel, and proceed in different directions along 
parts of the shores previously known to them, sometimes going up 
tide-rivers to a considerable distance. They spend the whole night 
on wing, searching diligently for food. Of this I had ample and satis- 
factory proof when ascending the St John River in East Florida, in 
the United States’ Schooner the Spark. The hoarse cries of the 
Skimmers never ceased more than an hour, so that I could easily know 
whether they were passing upwards or downwards in the dark. And 
this happened too when I was at least a hundred miles from the mouth 
of the river. 
Being aware, previously to my several visits to the peninsula of 
the Floridas and other parts of our southern coasts where the Razor- 
bills are abundant, of the observations made on this species by M. 
