BLACK TERN, OR STERN. 283 



rarely seen on the shores till after the breeding season, and 

 are then uncommon. It lays 3 or 4 light olive-brown eggs, 

 blotched and spotted with brown and black, the spots some- 

 times crowded almost into a circle about the middle of the 

 egg. They breed likewise in the fens of Lincolnshire ; 

 making a nest of flags or broad grass upon a tuft just 

 elevated above the surface of the water. 



The young of this species are rather common on the 

 coasts of New Jersey during autumn, on their way still 

 farther south to pass the winter. Wilson observed a flock 

 of these driven inland as far as the meadows of the Schuyl- 

 kill, by a violent storm from the north-east. Hundreds of 

 them were to be seen at the same time, accompanied by 

 flocks of the Yellow-Legs, and a few Purres ( Tringa alpi- 

 na.) Famished by the accident which had impelled them 

 from their usual abodes, they were now busy, silent and 

 unsuspicious, darting down after their prey of beetles, 

 grasshoppers and other insects, now afloat by the inundation, 

 without hesitating, though perpetually harassed by gunners, 

 who had assembled to view the extraordinary spectacle of 

 these rare flocks of wandering birds. In ordinary, as in 

 Europe, they frequent mill-ponds and fresh-water marshes, 

 in preference to the bays and the sea coast. 



The Stern measures about 10 or 11 inches in length. Bill black, 

 jneasui'ed from above, 1 inch 3 lines. Winter plumage of the adults : 

 Head and hind part of the neck black. Front, space between the 

 bill and eyes, throat, and fore part of the neck to the breast, pure 

 white. Breast, vent, and abdomen blackish-ash. All the upper 

 parts, rump, and tail feathers bluish-ash, or lead color. Lower tail 

 coverts white ; the two first quills fringed with white only at the 

 extremities of their inner barbs. Iris brown. Feet and legs dark 

 brown, or purplish-black. 



Spring and nuptial plumage ; with the front, space between the 

 bill and eyes, throat, and fore part of the neck, which are white in 

 winter, are in summer of a blackish-ash color like the other parts. 



