FAMILY XXIV. 
LONGIPENNES , Illiger. 
GENUS LXI. — RHYNCHO PS, Linnjeus. 
246 . itnvNCHOPS nigra , linn.®us and wilson. 
BLACK SKIMMER, OR SHEERWATER. 
WILSON, PLATE LX. FIG IV EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
This truly singular fowl is the only species of its 
tribe hitherto discovered. Like many others, it is a 
bird of passage in the United States, and makes its first 
appearance on the 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 sheer water 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 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 something of a fishy taste, but are eaten by 
many people on the coast. The. female sits on them 
