144 BIRDS. PALMIPIDES. Sterna. 



belly, white, the breast with a rosy tinge, and the throat more or less grey. 

 Above light grey, the rump white. Shafts of the quills white. Outer web 

 of the first black towards the base, dusky at the tip, the inner web dusky 

 at the shaft ; the next five feathers dusky ; the inner webs white at the base 

 and along the margin. Middle tail-feathers white, the two or three exterior 

 ones dusky on the outer web. — Nest on rocks or gravel. Eggs 2, olive-brown, 

 with dusky blotches. Young at first brownish-black, mottled with black 

 above, below whitish, the chin dusky ; feet and bill pale reddish-white. In 

 the same nest I have seen one of the young with the tip of the bill plain, and 

 the tip of the bill of the other dusky, as I have witnessed likewise in the old 

 birds. 



The Sterna Arctica of Temminck (Orn. ii. 742., and Sabine, App. Parry's 

 First Voyage, ecu.), which he states as occurring on the coasts of this coun- 

 try, is, in my opinion, only a variety of the common tern. It differs chiefly 

 in" the point of the bill not being black, and in the tarsus being 4 lines short- 

 er. Having examined many individuals of the S. hirundo, in reference to all 

 their external markings (and at the same time), I am satisfied that these dis- 

 tinguishing characters have too extensive a range of variation to warrant the 

 establishment of this species. 



236. L. nigra. Black Tern. — Webs of the toes much in- 

 dented. Tarsus T 8 g th of an inch. Bill black. 



L. niger, and fissipes, Will. Orn. 2G9-70 — L. fissipes, Linn. Syst. i. 228. 

 Perm. Brit. Zool. ii. 547 L- nigra, Temm. Orn. ii. 749. — E, Scare- 

 crow. — Breeds in the fens of England. 



Length 10, breadth 24 inches; weight 2\ ounces. Legs dusky red. Irides 

 brown. Crown, head, neck, breast, and belly, greyish-black. A white spot 

 under the chin. Back, wings, and tail, deep ash, the outer feathers on each 

 side of the last white. In winter, the front, lores, throat, fore-neck, and 

 belly, are white. The female wants the spot on the /throat. — Nest in sedgy 

 places, on the margin of pools. Eggs 3, olive-brown, blotched with brown 

 and black. — Young in the winter dress ; the back and scapulars brown, with 

 light edges, 



237. S. minuta. Lesser Tern. — Bill black, the base and 



feet orange. Tarsus |ths of an inch. Front white. 



L. piscator, Will. Orn. 2C9. — Sterna minuta, Linn. Syst. i. 228. Penn. 

 Brit. Zool. ii. 546. Temm. Orn. ii. 752 — E, Eichel Bird.— Inhabits 

 England along with the Common Tern. 



Length 8|, breadth 194 inches ; weight 2 ounces and 5 grains. Irides 

 dusky. Front, and a streak below the eye, white. Lores, crown, nape, and 

 hind-neck, black ; back and wings bluish-grey ; rump, tail, and below, white. 

 Shafts of the quills brown. Nest among shingle. Eggs 2, pale brown, spot- 

 ted with cinereous, and dusky. Young, with the front yellowish-white, head 

 brown, back and wings yellowish-brown. 



EXTINCT SPECIES. 



Birds seem to have experienced fewer revolutions in genera and species 

 during the different epochs of the Earth's history, than either quadrupeds or 

 reptiles. The extinct species are few in number, and hitherto their charac- 

 ters have not been sufficiently illustrated. In the calcareous slate of Stones- 

 field, the leg and thigh bones of birds have been detected, apparently be- 

 longing to a wader — Geol. Eng. and Wales, 208. 



