. The bird book, illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds, also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs . ■V Buffi ■:ti. 57 THK BfRD BOOK SKIMMERS. Family RYNCHOPID^ Skimmers are Tern-like birds having a very strangely developed bill. Thelower mandible is much longer than the upper and very thin, the upper edgebeing as sharp as the lower. Tlie lower mandible is rounded at the end whilethe upper is more pointed. Young Skimmers are said to have both mandiblesof the same lengtii, the abnormal development not appearing until after are
. The bird book, illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds, also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs . ■V Buffi ■:ti. 57 THK BfRD BOOK SKIMMERS. Family RYNCHOPID^ Skimmers are Tern-like birds having a very strangely developed bill. Thelower mandible is much longer than the upper and very thin, the upper edgebeing as sharp as the lower. Tlie lower mandible is rounded at the end whilethe upper is more pointed. Young Skimmers are said to have both mandiblesof the same lengtii, the abnormal development not appearing until after are very graceful birds, and, as implied by their name, they skimover the surface of the water, rising and falling with tlic waves, and are saidto pick up their food by dropping the lower mandible below the surface, its thinedge cutting the water like a knife. Tliere are four species of Skimmers, onlyone of which is found in North America. HO, Black Skimmkh. Ri/nrhops nigra. Range.—The South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, breeding from New Jerseysouthward. The Black Skimmer is about eighteen inches in length, and be-sides the remarkable bill is a bird of striking plum
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1914
