ORDER II. LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS. 
LONGIPENNES. 
Family 1. SKUAS andJAEGERS. Srercoraripa. 4 species. 
Family 2. GULLS and TERNS. Larip&. 37 species, 1 subspecies: 
Family 3. SKIMMERS. RyncHoripa&. 1 species. 
Skuas and Jaegers are pirates among the birds of the high seas. 
Bold and dashing, they pursue the swift flying Terns or much larger 
Gulls with equal success, forcing them to drop the fish they have cap- 
tured and catching it ere it reaches the water. 
Gulls (Subfamily Zaring) are usually considered so characteristic of 
the sea that ‘Sea Gull’ is the name popularly applied to all members of 
the subfamily to which they belong. Several species, however, are 
equally at home, both in the winter and when nesting, on the larger 
bodies of water in the interior, and one species is rarely or never found 
on our sea coasts. 
Gulls nest on the ground, on drifts of marsh-grass, on cliffs, and 
one species, at least, among American Gulls (the Herring Gull) has as 
a result of persecution, acquired the habit of nesting in trees. 
Gulls feed from the surface of the water, picking up their food with 
their strongly curved bills in passing or while hovering, not by plung- 
ing into the water, asdo the Terns. They are, in fact, the scavengers 
of the water, and perform a service of great value to mankind by de- 
vouring the bodies of various forms of aquatic animals which, in dying, 
come to the surface and, if cast ashore, might, in decaying, prove a 
source of disease. 
For this reason it was especially unfortunate that the plumage of 
these birds became fashionable for millinery purposes, with the result 
that thousands of them were destroyed for their wings and breasts. In 
this country, however, through the efforts of the American Ornitholo- 
gists’ Union and the Audubon Societies, laws have been passed pro- 
hibiting the killing of these beautiful and useful birds, and wardens 
have been placed on their nesting grounds to protect them. 
Gulls often rest in great flocks on the water, sitting high up and 
riding the waves buoyantly, but the Terns (Subfamily Sverninez), after 
they have acquired the power of flight, are rarely seen on the water. 
They are lighter, more active birds than the Gulls, with longer wings 
and tails, and sharper, more pointed bills. They feed largely on small 
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