THE ROSEATE TERN 187 



Beyond the British Islands the Roseate Tern has 

 a very extensive range along the coast-line of the 

 Atlantic and Indian Oceans. From the western 

 coasts of France we trace it as a breeding species 

 up the Mediterranean, in Tunis, and round the 

 African coasts, thence to the Mascarene Islands, 

 Ceylon, the Andaman Islands, the Malay Archipe- 

 lago, North and West Australia, and New Cale- 

 donia. Returning to the Atlantic, we find this 

 Tern recorded from the Azores, formerly breeding 

 on the Bermudas, and nesting along the coasts and 

 islands of Eastern America, from Central America, 

 and the West Indies northwards to Massachusetts. 

 The Roseate Tern is unquestionably a tropic 

 species migrating north and south in the Old 

 World to breed, but northwards only in the New 

 World, so far as is at present known. 



The habits of the Roseate Tern, so far as they 

 have been observed, very closely resemble those of 

 allied species. The bird is eminently a coast one, 

 attached to the shore and the islands near it. To 

 the British area it is a summer migrant only, and 

 a late one, not reaching its breeding-places until 

 nearly the end of May. Its flight and actions 

 generally are very similar to the Common Tern ; but 

 its black bill and rosy-tinted under parts, its shorter 



