SKIMMERS. s5 
     
    
   
   
    
     —Forehead, nape, and under parts white: back of the head black mixed 
     
     with white; back, wings, and tail deep pearl—gray. Im.—Similar to the pre- 
     
     ceding, but upper parts more or less washed and tipped with brownish; sides 
     
     washed with grayish. L., 1000; W., 8'30; T., 3'30; B., 1'00. 
     
    

    
     Range—Temperate and tropical America; breeds in the interior from 
     
     Kansas and Illinois to Alaska; not known to breed on the Atlantic coast, 
     
     where it is found from Prince Edward’s Island southward as an irregular 
     
     migrant, occurring at times in considerable numbers. 
     
    

    
     Washington, irregular T. V., Sept. Long Island, irregular T. V. in vary- 
     
     ing numbers, Aug. and Sept. Sing Sing, A. V., Sept. 
     
    

    
     Nest, of reeds, grasses, etc., rather closely woven, in grassy marshes or 
     
     vegetation floating in a slough. Eggs, two to three, grayish olive—brown, 
     
     rarely whitish, heavily spotted and blotched with chocolate markings, fre— 
     
     quently confluent about the larger end, 1-35 x '98. 
     
    
   
   
    
     This is an abundant species at favorable localities in the interior. 
     
    

    
     “ It seems not to subsist on fish at all, but chiefly on dragon flies 
     
     and various aquatic insects. It finds both its home and its food in 
     
     the marshes usually, but its powers of flight are so great that it may 
     
     also be seen far out on the dry open plains, scouring the country for 
     
     food at a distance of miles from its nesting ground. . . . 
     
    

    
     “ The bird may frequently be seen dashing about in a zigzag man- 
     
     ner so swiftly, the eye can offer no explanation of its motive until, on 
     
     the resumption of its ordinary flight, a large dragon fly is seen hang- 
     
     ing from its bill. . . .” (Thompson). 
     
    
   
   
    
     The WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN (78. Hydrochelidon leucoptera), an Old 
     
     World species, has been taken once in Wisconsin, and is recorded as "seen” 
     
     on a lake near Winnipeg. 
     
    
   
   
    
     79. Anon! stondus (liflfl.). NODDY. Ad.—Top of the head silvery 
     
     whitish, lores black: rest of the plumage dark sooty brown; tail rounded, 
     
     the central tail—feathers longest. Inn—Similar, but the top of the head is 
     
     like the rest of the plumage and the silvery whitish appears as a line from 
     
     the bill to above the eye. L., 15-00; W., 1025; T., 5'90: B., 1'70. 
     
    

    
     Bange.—“ Tropical and subtropical regions; in America, from Brazil and 
     
     Chili north to the Gulf and South Atlantic States” (A. O. U.). 
     
    

    
     Nest, of sticks, grasses. etc., on a mangrove bush. in a tree, sometimes on 
     
     the beach or in crevices of rocks. Egg, pale bufl'y white, sparingly marked 
     
     with rufous, 2'05 x 1'35. ' 
     
    
   
   
    
     This is a summer visitant to our South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 
     
     and nests on some of the Florida keys. 
     
     FAMILY RYNCHOPIDIE. SKIMMERS. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The three closely allied species constituting this small but-distinct 
     
     family are found in the warmer parts of the earth. Only one species