shufeldt] LIFE HISTORY OF THE BLACK SKIMMER 139 



one sand bar within the compass of half an acre. These eggs have 

 something of a fishy taste, but are eaten by many people on the coast. ' ' 



On one of the sandy cays of the Bahama Banks, early in 1864, I 

 found the Black skimmers breeding in hundreds — almost said 

 thousands — and their eggs could be readily gathered by the basket- 

 ful. When the birds arose, with their harsh, screaming notes, they 

 appeared like great clouds of black and white birds that dimmed 

 the light of the afternoon sun as they passed 'twixt it and me. The 

 sailors that were along gathered a great many of the eggs, which 

 they carried back for the crew of the gunboat to which I was at 

 that time attached. It is a rare circumstance to see a Scissor-bill 

 alight in the water as do gulls and terns so frequently; but it is 

 truly a beautiful sight to see a whole flock of them come sailing 

 along and alight on the pale sand of an isolated sand bar. Rkyn- 

 chops nigra, which is the scientific name of this species will never 

 be seen again on any of our coasts in such numbers- — the gun and 

 egg-taking have accomplished their work! 



Many years ago, Mr. William Palmer, of the United States 

 National Museum, kindly loaned me for the purpose of photo- 

 graphy a number of young specimens of the Black Skimmer, and 

 two of the results of my work in that field are here reproduced, in 

 that the pictorial side of my sketch of the bird may be complete. 

 These, it will be seen, are of different ages, Figure 3 giving the 

 appearance of the bird when it is very young, and Figure 4 when 

 it is practically in the subadult stage, though still unable to fly. 

 When first hatched, the young Skimmers are light-colored, dappled 

 and streaked in such a way in their downy plumage as to render them 

 very difficult to detect as they lie quietly on the sand. Wilson 

 says: 'The young remain for several weeks before they are able 

 to fly; are fed with great assiduity by both parents, and seem to 

 delight in lying with loosened wings flat on the sand, enjoying its 

 invigorating warmth. They breed but once in the season." 



These Skimmers never feed except on wing and flying over the 

 surface of the water. They then very adroitly gather up small 

 prawns, shrimp, some insects, but more particularly such fish fry 

 as are there to be seen. The bird uses its beak with remarkable 

 grace and ease, securing its prey without the slightest effort, and 

 swallowing it on the wing. They are also fond of sand fleas and 

 skippers, and remains of these are to be found in the stomachs of 

 recently killed specimens of the bird. 



