BLACK SKIMMER, OR SIIEERWATER. 
377 
shores of New Jersey early in May. It resides there, as well 
as along the whole Atlantic coast, during the summer ; and 
retires early in September. Its favourite haunts are low sand 
bars, raised above the reach of the summer tides ; and also 
dry flat sands on the beach in front of the ocean. On such 
places it usually breeds along the shores of Cape May, in 
New Jersey. On account of the general coldness of the 
spring there, the Sheerwater does not begin to lay until early 
in June, at which time these birds form themselves into small 
societies, fifteen or twenty pair frequently breeding within a 
few yards of each other. The nest is a mere hollow formed 
in the sand, without any other materials. The a female lays 
three eggs, almost exactly oval, of a clear white, marked with 
large round spots of brownish black, and intermixed with 
others of pale Indian ink. These eggs measure one inch and 
three quarters, by one inch and a quarter. Half a bushel and 
more of eggs has sometimes been collected from one sand bar, 
within the compass of half an acre. These eggs have some- 
thing of a fishy taste, but are eaten by many people on the 
coast. The female sits on them only during the night, or in 
wet and stormy weather. 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. 
The singular conformation of the bill of this bird has ex- 
cited much surprise ; and some writers, measuring the divine 
aquimes la preuve qu’il savait s’en servir avec avantage et avec le plus grande 
adresse. Les plages sablonneuses de Penco sont en effet remplies de Mactres, 
coquilles bivalves, que la maree decendente laisse presque a sec dans des petites 
mares ; le bec-en-ciseaux tres au fait de ce pbenomene, se place aupres de ces 
mollusques, attend que leur valve sent ouvre un peu, et profite aussitot de 
ce mouvement en enfoi^ant la lame inferieure, et tranchante de son bee entre 
le valves qui se referment. L’oiseaux enleve alors la eoquille, la frappe sur 
la greve, coupe le ligament du molusque, et peut ensuite avaler celui-ci sans 
obstacle. Plusieurs fois nous avons ete temoins de cet instinct tres perfec- 
tionne.” — E d. 
