THE TERNS.* 



THE CXDMMON TERN.f 



The Terns liave also been called Sca-Smi//oics, from the resemblance of their forked 

 tail, their long wings, and their constant habit of shaving the surface of the water in all 

 directions, in pursuit of small fish, to those of the swallows. 



The Terns are continually on the wing, and, though web-footed, are not seen to swim. 

 They rest but seldom, and only on the land. Their food consists chiefly of small fish and 

 mollusks, wliich they seize on the surface of the water ; but they also catch aerial insects. 

 They send ft)rth sharp and piercing cries in flying, particularly during nestling time. 

 In calm weather they sometimes rise very high, and arc often seen to come plump down. 



The young differ from the adult and aged only before the moulting, whicli is double 

 in the known species. There is no external ditt'ercnce between the sexes. The females 

 deposit their eggs, usually two or tlirec in number, in a cavity, and these nests are some- 

 times 80 close that the sitting bird.s toucli each otlier. 



Terns are, some assert, found in both continents, from the seas, lakes, and rivers of the 

 Nortli, as far as the vast coasts of the Austral Ocean, and in almost all the intermediate 

 climates. In Tahiti they rest upon the bushc."*; and Forstcr, in a walk before tlie rising 

 of the sun, has caught ma?iy of tliem that were sleeping along tlie pathways. The 

 species are very numerous. 



Stcrua. 



t Sterna llii'undo. 



