848 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



The Skimmer breeds in April and May on sandy churrs, laying 

 four, occasionally five eggs, of a pale stone-yellow colour with 

 blotches of gray and brown, quite Tern-like. The young when 

 hatched are stated by Burgess to be clad in a whity -brown down 

 with dark spots. Mr. Brooks writes me that he found the young 

 Skimmers hatched by the 15th April at Mirzapore, and that " it was 

 amusing to see an army of some hundreds of these little fellows 

 (Tortoise-shell looking things) running steadily a couple of hun- 

 dred yards before us. They run well, and when we reached the 

 end of the sand- bank, they attempted to swim off", while many 

 squatted down. They did not make much way swimming, and 

 sank very deep in the water." Three other species are recorded 

 from Africa and America. 



Tribe, Piscatores — Blyth. 



Pelicanidce, Vigors. 



Feet entirely webbed, the hind toe articulated on the inner side 

 of the tarsus, directed inwards and in some slightly forwards, 

 joined to the inner front toe by web, forming a most powerful 

 oar ; legs short ; wings long or moderate ; bill varied. 



The birds of this tribe, though so highly aquatic, perch well 

 on trees, and indeed all evince strong scansorial tendencies. 

 Like the last tribe of the Grallatores (the Cultirostres), these birds 

 also breed mostly on trees or rocks, and the young are helpless 

 at birth, remaining long in the nest. They have generally some 

 naked skin at the base of the bill and throat, which is more or 

 less extensile, and the tongue is very small. The nostrils are 

 pervious in the young, all but closed in the adult. The stomach is 

 thin, large, often furnished with an accessory sac ; the intestines 

 are short, and they have small coeca- The sternum is wide, barely 

 emarginate, and the furcula is anchylosed to it. The eggs of 

 many are encased in a soft absorbent chalky substance covering 

 the hard shell ; and they are said not to moult their plumage 

 before the second autumn. They are all very voracious birds feed- 

 ing chiefly on fishes. 



The Piscatores may be divided into, — 1st, Flying Fishers, 

 PhaetorHdce, — 2nd, Plunging Fishers or Sulidce, — 3rd. Pouncing 



