41 



The writer has been able to obtain no spring records, but 

 has met with it reguhirly on the south shore for several years, 

 each autumn. 



39. Rynchops nigra. Black Skimmer. 



It is probably a rare but regular summer visitor off the coast 

 of Long Island. 



''It is rarely seen with us except at midsummer" (Giraud, 

 Birds of L. I., p. 349). A specimen taken near South Oyster 

 Bay, August 2, 1884, was recorded by Mr. George Bird Grinnell 

 {Forest and Stream^ xxiii, 1884, p. 24), and in the same com- 

 munication he refers to ''a remarkable flio^ht one vear ao-o alono- 

 Long Island and the New England coasts." The writer be- 

 lieves that these birds are not so rare as dearth of recent records 

 would lead one to suppose. Bavmen who fish outside the 

 inlets frequently report seeing birds they call "Flood Gulls" 

 which in appearance and manner of flight are scarcely to be 

 mistaken for anything else. Mr. A. Chichester, a most reliable 

 observer, reported one oft' Amityville May 20, 1898, and another 

 record which is regarded as reliable would extend the season of 

 occurrence here to Oct. 12. It is not known as a nesting 

 species north of the coast of southern New Jersey. 



40. Puffinus borealis. Cory's Shearwater. 



Probably a regular summer visitor off our coast. Aug. 

 6 to Oct. 18. Its nesting place is unknown but is probably 

 on some island or islands of the Southern Hemisphere. Six 

 were reported at Amagansett on Oct. 18, 1887 (W. Dutcher, 

 Auk, V, 1888, p. 173); at Gardiner's Bay in September and 

 October, 1886 (Chadbourne, Auk, v, 1888, p. 202); at Little 

 Gull Island Aug. 6-16, 1888 (B. H. Dutcher, Auk, vi, 1889, 

 p. 128); and at Fire Island Inlet two were taken, Oct. 4, 1902 

 (Braislin, Auk, xxi, 1904, p. 287). 



41. Puffinus gravis. Greater Shearwater. 

 Occasionallv seen oft' the Long Island coast, it is more familiar 



