THE TEENS. 
317 
mandible, short legs and long wings. In the United States 
the Skimmer is a bird of passage, coming in May and leav- 
ing in September. The nest, according to Wilson, is a mere 
hollow formed in the sand, in which the female deposits 
three oval eggs. The American ornithologist kept a speci- 
men for several days which he had wounded in the wing ; it 
soon became tame and even familiar, but refused every kind 
of food offered to it. He says that it never eats but on the 
wing; the great expanse of these organs enables the bird 
to sail with sufficient celerity while dipping in the water for 
its food. 
The Terns {Sternince) are often called Sea-swallows, from 
their long pointed wings, forked tail, and short legs. They 
have a straight, pointed, compressed beak, with the nostrils 
near the base. Although their feet are webbed, they hardly 
ever seem to swim, but pick their food dexterously from the 
surface of the water. 
. The eggs of some of the terns are of considerable com- 
mercial importance. Mr. Hill informs us"^ that in 1846, 
four vessels were fitted out from J amaica, and sailed to the 
Pedro Kays to collect the eggs of the sea-birds, chiefly terns, 
which build there. The Noddy {Megaloptents stolidtts), Egg- 
* Gosse's * Birds of Jamaica/ p. 434. 
