The Bird Book Part 9

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SKIMMERS. Family RYNCHOPIDae

Skimmers are Tern-like birds having a very strangely developed bill. The lower mandible is much longer than the upper and very thin, the upper edge being as sharp as the lower. The lower mandible is rounded at the end while the upper is more pointed. Young Skimmers are said to have both mandibles of the same length, the abnormal development not appearing until after flight. Skimmers are very graceful birds, and, as implied by their name, they skim over the surface of the water, rising and falling with the waves, and are said to pick up their food by dropping the lower mandible below the surface, its thin edge cutting the water like a knife. There are four species of Skimmers, only one of which is found in North America.

80. BLACK SKIMMER. _Rynchops nigra._

Range.--The South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, breeding from New Jersey southward. The Black Skimmer is about eighteen inches in length, and besides the remarkable bill is a bird of striking plumage; the forehead, ends of the secondaries, tail feathers and under parts are white; the rest of the plumage is black and the basal half of the bill is crimson.

Skimmers nest in large communities, the same as do the Terns, laying their eggs in hollows in the sand. They are partially nocturnal in their habits and their hoa.r.s.e barking cries may be heard after the shadows of night have enveloped the earth. Fishermen call them by the names of "Cut-water" and "Sea Dog." The nesting season commences in May and continues through June and July. They lay from three to five eggs, having a creamy or yellowish buff ground, blotched with black, chestnut and lilac. Size 1.75 1.30. Data.--Cobb's Is., Va., June 8, 1894. Three eggs laid in a hollow on the beach. No nest.

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TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. Order III. TUBINARES.

ALBATROSSES. Family DIOMEDEIDAE

Albatrosses are the largest of the sea birds and have an enormous expanse of wing, the Wandering Albatross, the largest of the family, sometimes attaining an expanse of fourteen feet. Their nostrils consist of two slightly projecting tubes, one on each side near the base of the bill. They are unsurpa.s.sed in powers of flight, but are only fair swimmers and rarely, if ever, dive, getting their food, which consists of dead animal matter, from the surface of the water.

81. BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS. _Diomedea nigripes._

Range.--North Pacific from California northward. This Albatross is thirty-two inches in length; it is of a uniform sooty brown color shading into whitish at the base of the bill, which is rounded. Like the other members of the family, this species is noted for its extended flights, following vessels day after day without any apparent period of rest, for the purpose of feeding on the refuse that is thrown overboard.

They breed during our winter on some of the small isolated islands in the extreme southern portions of the globe. They lay a single white egg on the bare ground.

82. SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS. _Diomedea albatrus._

Range.--North Pacific Ocean in summer, from Lower California to Alaska.

With the exception of the Wandering Albatross, which is now regarded as doubtful as occurring off our coasts, the Short-tailed Albatross is one of the largest of the group, measuring thirty-six inches in length, and has an extent of seven feet or more. With the exception of the black primaries, shoulders and tail, the entire plumage is white, tinged with straw color on the back of the head. They breed on the guano islands in the North Pacific off the coasts of Alaska and j.a.pan. They lay a single white egg on the bare ground or rocks. As with the other members of the family, the eggs are extremely variable in size, but average about 4.25 2.50.

[Ill.u.s.tration 061: Black-footed Albatross.

Short-tailed Albatross.]

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82.1. LAYSAN ALBATROSS. _Diomedea immutabilis._

Range.--Laysan Island of the Hawaiian Group, appearing casually off the coast of California. This species breeds in large numbers on the island from which it takes its name. The birds are white with the exception of the back, wings and tail, which are black. The birds, having been little molested in their remote island, are exceedingly tame, and it is possible to go among the sitting birds without disturbing them. Mr.

Walter K. Fisher has contributed an admirable report on this species in the 1913 Bulletin of the Fish Commission, the report being ill.u.s.trated with numerous ill.u.s.trations of the birds from photos by the author.

Their single white eggs are laid on the bare ground.

83. YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS. _Thala.s.sogeron culminatus._

This is a species which inhabits the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, and is said to rarely occur on the California coast. They breed during our winter on some of the small islands and during our summer are ocean wanderers. An egg in the collection of Col. John E. Thayer was taken on Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean; Sept. 1st, 1888. The nest was a mound of mud and gra.s.s about two feet in height. The single white egg measured 3.75 2.25. It was collected by George Comer.

84. SOOTY ALBATROSS. _Phoebetria-palpebrata._

Range.--Southern seas, north in our summer along the Pacific coast of the United States.

This species is entirely sooty brown except the white eyelids. It is similar to the Black-footed Albatross from which species it can be distinguished in all plumages by the narrow base of the bill, while the bill of the former species is broad and rounded. They breed commonly on isolated islands in many quarters of the southern hemisphere. Sometimes this species constructs a mound of mud on which to deposit its single white egg, and also often lays it on the bare ground or rock. A specimen in Mr. Thayer's collection, taken by Geo. Comer on So. Georgia Is. in the South Atlantic ocean, was laid in a hollow among loose stones on the ledge of an overhanging cliff. Size 4.10 2.75.

[Ill.u.s.tration 062: Laysan Albatross. Yellow-nosed Albatross. Sooty Albatross.]

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FULMARS, SHEARWATERS and PETRELS Family PROCELLARIDAE

Fulmars, Shearwaters and Petrels are Gull-like birds with two nostril tubes located side by side, in a single tube, on the top of the bill at its base.

The Fulmars are mostly northern birds while the majority of the Shearwaters nest in the extreme south during our winter, and appear off our coasts during the summer. Their food consists of fish or offal which they get from the surface of the water; large flocks of them hover about fishermen, watching their chance to get any food which falls, or is thrown, overboard.

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85. GIANT FULMAR. _Macronectes gigantea._

Range.--This Petrel is a native of the southern seas and is only casually met with off the Pacific coast.

It is the largest of the family, being about three feet in length, and is normally a uniform sooty color, although it has light phases of plumage. They nest in December on many of the islands south of Africa and South America, laying their single white egg on the bare rocks.

86. FULMAR. _Fulmarus glacialis glacialis._

Range.--North Atlantic coasts from New England northward, breeding from Hudson Bay and southern Greenland northward.

This bird which is 19 inches in length, in the light phase has a plumage very similar to that of the larger Gulls. They nest by thousands on rocky islands of the north, often in company with Murres and Gulls.

Owing to the filthy habits of the Fulmars, these breeding grounds always have a nauseating odor, which is also imparted to, and retained by the egg sh.e.l.l. Their single white eggs are laid on the bare rocks, in crevices of the cliffs, often hundreds of feet above the water. Size 2.90 2.00. Data.--St. Kilda, off Scotland. June 5, 1897. Single egg laid on rock on side of sea cliff. Collector, Angus Gillies.

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