. A general history of birds . scr. Surin. \\. 291. Voy. dAzara, iv. No. 408. Bee de hache, ou Pied rouge, Hist. Louis, ii. 117. Der Scheerenschnabel, Schmid, Fog. p. 138. t. 121. Cutwater, Catesb. Car. i. pl. 90. Black Skimmer, Gen. Syn. vi. 347. pl. in frontisp. Arct. Zool. ii. No. 445. View of Hindoost. ii. p. 42. Amer. Orn. vii. 85. pl. 60. f. 4. SIZE of the Black Guillemot; length eighteen inches, breadththree feet. The bill is of a singular structure, the upper mandiblebeing above an inch shorter than the under, which is four inchesand a half long; both are greatly compressed on the side
. A general history of birds . scr. Surin. \\. 291. Voy. dAzara, iv. No. 408. Bee de hache, ou Pied rouge, Hist. Louis, ii. 117. Der Scheerenschnabel, Schmid, Fog. p. 138. t. 121. Cutwater, Catesb. Car. i. pl. 90. Black Skimmer, Gen. Syn. vi. 347. pl. in frontisp. Arct. Zool. ii. No. 445. View of Hindoost. ii. p. 42. Amer. Orn. vii. 85. pl. 60. f. 4. SIZE of the Black Guillemot; length eighteen inches, breadththree feet. The bill is of a singular structure, the upper mandiblebeing above an inch shorter than the under, which is four inchesand a half long; both are greatly compressed on the sides, and bothsharp on the edges, but the upper is bifid beneath, so as to admit ofthe under one entering the shallow groove, like a razor shutting intoits handle ; the base of the bill is red, the rest black, and on thesides are several furrows; the forehead, chin, and all the under partsare white; the rest of the head, and upper parts of the body andwings dusky black ; across the latter a bar of white ; the tail forked, ^;. r r/ ■ /-• / ///MV/V SKIMMER. 97 two middle feathers black ; the next on each side the same, marginedoutwardly with white; the four outer white, dashed with duskydown the shafts, but least so on the outmost feathers ; legs weak,red, claws crooked, black ; the greater quills exceed the secondariesby eight inches at least; and the wings, when at rest, are longer thanthe tail by three inches. Both sexes are nearly alike; but some birds are brown instead ofblack, and the white less pure. These are probably young. This singular bird inhabits America, from New York to Guiana,Cayenne, and Surinam; and extends to Paraguay, Buenos Ay res,and Brazil. The Guaranis call it Hati-guazu, from its having aforked tail, like Hatis or Tern ; the Spaniards Rayador, Breaker, orCutter, from its dividing or cutting the water with the bill ;# knownin Guiana by the name of Taya-Taya; and at New York, Skippog ;and by some the Razor-bill. It flies generally close to the surfac
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlatham, bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1821
