BLACK SKIMMER. 187 



black ; the next on each side .the same outwardly 

 margined with white ; the four outer ones white, 

 dashed with dusky down the shafts, least on the 

 outer feathers : legs slender and red ; claws black. 

 Both sexes are alike ; but varieties of each sometimes 

 occur ; some being brown instead of black, and having 

 the white less pure : others have those parts of a ful- 

 vous colour that are usually of a black brown. 



This species inhabits various parts of the American 

 continent, from New York to the Brazils. It is ge- 

 nerally on the wing, and skims on the surface of the 

 water, continually dipping in its beak to take up the 

 small fish, which are its principal food : in stormy 

 weather it seeks the shore, and chiefly subsists upon 

 shrimps, small crabs, &c. Its voice is harsh and 

 screaming, resembling that of the Terns, but stronger. 

 It flies slowly, dipping occasionally, with steady ex- 

 panded wings and bended neck, its lower mandible 

 into the sea, and with open mouth receiving its food 

 as it ploughs along the surface : it is rarely seen 

 swimming on the water ; but frequently rests in large 

 parties on the sand bars at low water. On the coast 

 of Virginia these birds may be observed in flocks of 

 several hundreds together ; and upwards of twenty 

 nests have been found within the space of a square 

 rod : the nest is a mere hollow formed in the sand, 

 without any other materials : the female lays there 

 eggs, almost exactly oval, of a clear white, marked 

 with large round spots of brownish-black, and inter- 

 mixed with others of pale ink colour : they are fre- 

 quently eaten, but have a fishy taste : the female sits 

 on them only during the night, or in wet and stormy 



