ARCTIC TERN, 375 



ARCTIC TERN. 



(^Sterna arctica, Temm. Man. d'Orn. ii. p. 742. Bonap. Synops. No. 

 287. Richard. North. Zool. ii. p. 414. Sterna argentata, Bkeum. 

 S. macroura, Nauman.) 



Sp. Charact. — Bill moderate, slender, red to the tip; crown black; 

 quill shafts white ; outer vane of the first primary black ; tail great- 

 ly forked ; tarsus | of an inch. — Mult both in summer and winter 

 with the crovrn black. Young, as in the preceding. 



The Arctic Tern appears to supersede the common 

 species in the hyperboreal regions of the northern hemis- 

 phere, being common around Baffin's Bay and Davis's 

 Straits. The species also breeds abundantly in the remote 

 land of Melville Peninsula, and along most of the shores 

 and islands of the Arctic Sea, as well as in Labrador, 

 where it was observed by Mr. Audubon. It is also com- 

 mon in the Scottish isles of the Orkneys, and visits England 

 and Scotland, proceeding at times as far as the shores of the 

 Baltic. According to Richardson, the eggs of this species 

 are very tapering at the small end, of a light yellowish-brown 

 to bluish-grey, marked with many irregular brown spots of 

 different degrees of intensity. They are deposited upon a 

 gtavelly beach or upon the sand, and the parent birds show 

 as much anxiety for their safety, and boldness in defending 

 them, as the Common Tern. 



The Arctic Tern is about 14 inches long. In the summer plumage, 

 the front, summit of the head and the long feathers of the nape 

 of a deep black ; all the rest of the parts colored as in the preceding 

 species The lower parts, throat, and fore part of the neck, of 

 the same deep ash color as the back. A very small part of the abdo- 

 men, lower tail coverts, and a band beneath the eyes, pure white. 

 Tail a little longer than that of S. hirundo. Tarsus and toes very 

 short, of a fine red. Bill lake red. Iris-brown. 



