320 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



2. The Yellow-nosed Albatross (S3. Thalassdgeron culminMus) 

 is a brownish-backed, white-bellied species. 



Length, 36 ; wing, 18 ; tail, 8J ; tarsus, 3J ; culmen, 4f. Reported 

 from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



ORDER XVI. LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 

 (LONGIPBNNES) 



An order of swimming birds, with very long, pointed wings, 

 open nostrils, and a small hind toe or none. These birds show 

 great power of sustained flight as well as of swimming. 



FAMILY LIX. SKIMMERS (RYNCH6PID^) 



A small family of but three similar, sea-skimming birds, 

 one of which is found frequently on our southern coasts. 



1. Black Skimmer (80. Ryndiops nigra). — A short-tailed, 

 long-winged, short-legged, black-backed, white-bellied sea-bird, 



with a peculiar, 

 long, knife-like bill. 

 These birds skim 

 over the surface of 

 the water with the 

 lower mandible so 

 buried beneath the 

 waves as to "plow 

 the main" for their 

 food, which consists 

 of small sea animals. 

 They feed chiefly 

 during the dusk of the evening and at night ; during the day- 

 time they are usually found resting on the sand bars. Their 

 notes are very hoarse, somewhat resembling the croaking of 

 some herons. 



Length, 18; wing, 15 (14-16); tail, 5; tarsus, IJ ; culmen, 2J-2J. 

 Warmer parts of America ; breeding as far north as New Jersey, and 

 wandering to the Bay of Fundy. 



Black Skimmer 



