Page:Bird-lore Vol 05.djvu/124

 The Bird~Life of Cobb‘s Island Hr

graceful in ﬂight, feeding most actively after dark when the inﬂuences of the night lend a weirdness to their calls. these birds are unusually interesting and attractive.

They breed on the beach in almost continuous colonies from a point about a mile and a hall north of the life—saving station nearly to the north end of the island Four eggs are laid in a depression in the sand made by the bird by squatting close and turning around, boring, as it were, a nest cavity, Like most conspicuous ground-nesting birds the Skimmers leave their nest at the first indication of danger and one's ﬁrst knowledge of their presence is gained from a ﬂock which, rising far ahead of one, comes charging down the beach with more or less regularity of formationv trumpeting loudly. Doubtless this habit accounts for the belief of various ornithologists, as well as of the baymen. that the Skimmer never visits its nest during the day.

It was not long after I had converted my umbrella blind (see June BlRD‘LoRE) into a grass-covered sand dune that the birds began to return and, alighting with waddling steps, walk toward their nests and settle them— selves on their eggs with a chuckling note apparently indicative of satisfac- tion. At times the much larger male bird would stand beside his mate while she attended to the duties of incubation.

When a young bird was hatched the parent at once took the egg-shell whence it had emerged and carried it far up the beach ; an interest- ing habit evidently of more importance to a tree-nesting bird which would avoid advertising the young bird above by the eggashell below. than to a ground-nest- ing species. Possibly it may indicate a for mer arboreal habit on the part of the Skim— mer (see june BIRD- Lona)

The young are born covered with a sandy colored down which is dry at the end of two hours, when they are suﬂici- cntly strong to crawl from the nest to the shelter of a neighboring weed, which, in the absence of the parent, they seem to seek instinctively. At this time if the sun be shining the prolonged absence of the parent will

SKIMMEK 0N NEST