BLACK SKIMMER. 67 



front; neck rather short, thick; body short, ovate. Feet short, moderately- 

 stout; tibia bare below, with narrow transverse scutella before and behind; 

 tarsus short, anteriorly covered with broad scutella; toes very small, the first 

 extremely short and free, unless at the base; middle toe slightly longer than 

 outer; anterior toes united by deeply emarginate webs. Claws long, com- 

 pressed, slightly arched, rather obtuse. Plumage moderately full, soft, and 

 blended; wings extremely long, and very narrow; primary quills excessively 

 long, the first longest; secondaries short. Tail of moderate length, deeply 

 forked, of twelve feathers. Tongue short, triangular, tapering; oesophagus 

 wide; stomach rather small, oblong, muscular, the cuticular lining dense, 

 with nine broad longitudinal rugEe; intestine rather long, narrow; coeca very 

 small; cloaca large, globular; the digestive organs are precisely similar to 

 those of the Terns and smaller Gulls. 



BLACK SKIMMER OR RAZOR-BILLED SHEARWATER. 



^Rhynchops nigra, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCXXVIII.— Male. 



This bird, one of the most singularly endowed by nature, is a constant . 

 resident on all the sandy and marshy shores of our more southern States, 

 from South Carolina to the Sabine river, and doubtless also in Texas, where 

 I found it quite abundant in the beginning of spring. At this season parties 

 of Black Skimmers extend their movements eastward as far as the sands of 

 Long Island, beyond which however I have not seen them. Indeed in Mas- 

 sachusetts and Maine this bird is known only to such navigators as have 

 observed it in the southern and tropical regions. 



To study its habits therefore, the naturalist must seek the extensive sand- 

 bars, estuaries, and mouths of the rivers of our Southern States, and enter 

 the sinuous bayous intersecting the broad marshes along their coasts. There, 

 during the warm sunshine of the winter days, you will see thousands of 

 Skimmers, covered as it were with their gloomy mantles, peaceably lying 

 beside each other, and so crowded together as to present to your eye the 

 appearance of an immense black pall accidentally spread on the sand. Such 



