NODDY
79. Anous stolidus. 15 in.
Adults with the crown silvery-white, the rest of the plumage being sooty-brown; the bill, feet and line to the eye are black. The plumage of these beautiful birds is very soft and pleasing to the eye. They look to be gentle and confiding, and a closer acquaintance shows that they are. They will frequently allow themselves to be touched with the hand before they leave their nests. They are abundant in some of the Bahaman and West Indian Islands, where they nest in company with other species.
Notes.—A hoarse reedy “cack” increasing to a guttural “k-r-r-r-r-r-r-r.” (Chapman).
Nest.—Of sticks and grasses, placed at low elevations in the tops of trees and bushes, or upon the ground. The single egg that they lay is buffy, spotted with black and brown (2.00 × 1.30).
Range.—Breeds north to the Bahamas and on Bird Key near Key West; rarely wanders on the Atlantic coast to South Carolina.
SKIMMERS—Family Rynchopidæ
BLACK SKIMMER
80. Rynchops nigra. 18 in.
These strange birds are not apt to be mistaken for any other. They are locally abundant on the South Atlantic coast as far north as Virginia. Their flight is swift and more direct than that of terns; they fly in compact flocks, in long sweeps over the water, feeding by dropping their long, thin mandible beneath the surface and gathering in everything edible that comes in their path.
Notes.—Baying like a pack of hounds.
Nest.—Their 3 or 4 eggs are deposited in hollows in the sandy beaches. They are creamy-white, beautifully marked with blackish-brown and gray (1.75 × 1.30).
Range.—Breeds on the Gulf coast and on the Atlantic coast to New Jersey; after nesting, they occasionally wander northward as far as Nova Scotia; winters from the Gulf States southwards.
TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS—Order Tubinares
SHEARWATERS—Family Procellaridæ
FULMAR
86. Fulmarus glacialis. 19 in.
Bill short and stout, compared to that of the [shearwaters], strongly hooked at the tip and with the nostrils opening out of a single tube, prominently located on the top of the bill. They have two color phases, the light one being gull-like, but the tail is gray like the mantle; eyes brown; bill and feet yellowish. In the dark phase they are uniformly gray above and below. These plumages appear to be independent of sex or age. They are extremely abundant at some of their breeding grounds in the far north. The birds are constant companions of the whalers, and feed largely upon blubber that is thrown overboard.
Nest.—Their single white eggs are laid upon bare ledges of sea cliffs (2.90 × 2.00).
Range.—Breeds in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans from Labrador and northern Scotland northward; winters south regularly.
