310 LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



adult. Bill dusky, lirownish toward tlic liase ; feet brownish. Downy y mm g : Above, grayish 

 white, finely mottled with dusky grayish, the head distinctly marked with irregular dots of dusky 

 black ; lower parts entirely immaculate white. Bill dull yellow, tipited with dusky ; legs and 

 feet clear pale yellow. 



'rotal leiigtli, al)nut !).()(> inches ; extent, 20.00 ; wing, 6.60 ; tail, 3.50, its fork, 1.75 ; culnien, 

 1.20 ; depth of 1)111 at base, .28 ; tarsus, .60 ; middle toe, with claw, .72. 



This little Tern has several near allies in difl'erent parts of the world. The differential charac- 

 ters of the American species and their European representative are as follows : — 



A. Loiver parts white. 



a. Bump and tail white \. S. minuta.^ 



b. Hump and tail peaii-gray. 



h'. Bill more or less black tipped. Wing less tban 7.00 inches. Feet 



bri'dit vellow 2. 5. antillarum. 



b". Bill without black tip. Wing 7.00 inches or longer. Feet oliva- 

 ceous yellow. Upper parts darker gray. Bill larger and much 

 stouter, and lateral rectrices more elongated 3. S. superciliaiis.^ 



B. Loioer •parts gray 4. S. exilis} 



The Least Tern of Xorth America appears to be restricted to the Atlantic coast ; 

 occurring occasionally in the interior, along the banks of our larger rivers. I have 

 never met with it north of Southern IVIassachusetts ; but Mr. Boardman informs me 

 that it is occasionally seen in midsummer as far east as the St. Croix River and the 

 I'assamaquoddy — where, however, it is very rare. Audubon claims to have found 

 this species breeding off Labrador, in June, 1833, and to have again observed it on 

 Newfoundland on the 14th of August ; but 1 can find no corroboration of its presence 

 beyond the Bay of Fundy. 



This species is supposed to leave the United States in the month of October, and 

 to return here in the folloAving April. It is more or less common in several of the 

 West India Islands. In Cuba it is undoubtedly a resident, and breeds there. In 



1 Sterna winuta. 



Sterna mimUa, LiNN. S. N. I. 1766, 228. — Kf.ys. & Blas. Wirb. Eur. 97. — Naum. Vog. 



Deutschl, X. 1840, 145, pi. 254. — Macgill. Man. II. 1840, 234. 

 Sterna mctojjolciicus, S. G. Gmel. Nov. Comni. Petrop. XV. 475, pi. 22. 

 Sterna Jissipcs, Bueu.m, Vog. Deutschl. 790 (not of LiNN.). 

 Sterna pomarina and dnnica, ]5keh>i, t. c. 791. 



Lesser Tern, Yaru. Brit. B. ed. 2, III. 519, Kg. ; ed. 3, III. 524, fig. ; et AucT. 

 Ilab. I'ahearctic Kegion, to India and Cape of Good Hope. 



2 STEIIXA .SUPEliCILIAias. 



Sterna sujKrciliaris, ViElLL. Nouv. Diet. XXXII. 1819, 126. — ScL. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, 

 571. — Saundeks, P, Z. S. 1878, 662. 



Sterna supercilieiris, a. superciliaris, CouES, Birds N. W. 1874, 692. 



Sterna maculata, Vieill. Enc. Meth. 1823, 350. 



Sterna arejentea, Max. Voy. I. 1820, 67; Beitr. IV. 1833, 871. — Pelz. Orn. Bras. 1870, 325. 

 Ilah. Eastern South America, west to the headwaters of the Amazonian tributaries. 

 * Sterna exills. 



Sterna exilis, Tscnuni, Faun. Per. Aves, 1846, 306. — ScL. & Salv., P. Z. S. 1871, 572.— 

 Saunders, ib. 1878, 663. 



Sterna loratd, Pii. & Landr. Wiegm. Ajchiv, 1863, pt. I. 124. 



Sternula loricata, Gr.\y, Handl. III. 1871, 121. 

 Hab. Coast of Peru and Chili. 



There are, in addition to these, (S'. sinensis, Gm. (('liina to Australia) ; S. sumatrana, Eaffl. (Ceylon 

 to tlie Red Sea) ; S. nereis, Gould (Australia and New Zealand) ; and S. balxnarum, Sti;ickl. (from 

 the Cape of Good Hope). 



