8 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



which is not completed until about June 16-18. This moult is 

 constant in all the specimens that I have examined, and is not 

 confined to a few individuals, though only the under parts appear 

 to be renewed. 



Twenty years ago these curious birds used to breed regularly on 

 Sullivan's Island, and by May 15 full complements of eggs could 

 be procured. At present, however, the breeding season is much 

 later than formerly, and the birds, as a rule, have forsaken 

 the coast islands (including Sullivan's, Long, and Capers') and 

 breed — or try to — mainly on the larger keys. As fast as the eggs 

 are laid they are taken by any boatman who happens to dis- 

 cover them. The birds are thus forced to lay again and again in 

 order to raise a brood and hence the breeding season is a long 

 one, being protracted through August. 



From three to five eggs are laid upon the bare sand, and, as a 

 rule, out of reach of the highest tides. The eggs vary endlessly, 

 but may best be described as white or creamy white, spotted or 

 blotched with dark brown or even black. They measure 1.75 X 

 1.30. 



The Skimmer feeds entirely upon small fish, which it catches 

 while on the wing by immersing the terminal half of the lower 

 mandible in shallow water varying from one to eight inches in 

 depth. 



Myriads of these birds try annually to raise their young on 

 "Bird Bank, " Bull's Bay, but few are ever successful. 



ORDER TUBINARES : TUBE-NOSED 



SWIMMERS. 



FAMILY PROCELLARIIDiE : SHEARWATERS 

 AND PETRELS. 



22. Puffinus gravis (O'Reilly). Greater Shearwater. 

 This pelagic species occurs off the coast. The great cyclone of 



August 27-28, 1893, destroyed great numbers of these ocean 

 wanderers. A few days after the cyclone, I visited Long Island, 

 and found the beach literally strewn with dead birds. 



23. Puffinus l'herminieri Lesson. Audubon's Shearwater. 

 Audubon's Shearwater is a fairly abundant species off the 



coast during the summer months. One specimen has been taken 



