Terns 



63. Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica). L. 

 14.5; T. 5.5. Ads., summer. Bill thick, short, black; 

 tail short, forked only 1 . =,; crown black; above pearl; 

 below white. Ads., winter. Head white, with black 

 patch before and behind eye. Yng. Similar, but above 

 edged with buffy; head and neck streaked with gray- 

 ish. Notes. A high, thin, somewhat reedy tee-tee-tee, 

 sometimes suggesting a weak-voiced katydid. 



Range. — Cosmopolitan; breeds in North America from Mexico to 

 Florida and nortli to Virgiria; wanders north rarely to New Bruns- 

 wick; winters from southern Texas southward. 



73. Aleutian Tern (Sterna aleuticd). L. 14. T. 



6.7, forked 3. Ads., summer. Above and below pearl 

 gray, browner below; throat white; crown black; fore- 

 head white; line from bill to ere black. Ads., winter. 

 "With rather more white on forehead." (Cat. B. M.) 

 Notes. "A thin, clear, trilling whistle." (Nelson.) 



Range. — Alaska from Kadiak to Bering Strait, southwest to Japan. 



74. Least Tern (Sterna ant dlarum). L. 9; T. 3.5, 

 forked 1.7. Ads., summer. Bill yellow, black at tip; 

 forehead white; a black line from bill to eye; crown 

 black; above pearl; below white. Ads. , winter. Crown 

 white; nape black; bill dark; tail shorter. Yng. Sim- 

 ilar to last, but above with buffy or brownish. Notes. 

 "A sharp squeak much like the cry of a very young 

 pig following its mother." 



Range. — Western hemisphere; breeds locally from northern South 

 America northward to Massachusetts, Dakota, and southern Cali- 

 fornia; winters south of United States. 



76. Bridled Tern (Sterna ancrthetus). L. 15. Ads. 

 Forehead and line over eye white; lores and crown 

 black; nape whitish; back sooty gray or sooty brown; 

 outer tail feathers white, except at tip; inner ones 

 grayish brown. Notes. A soft qua. 



Range. — Tropical regions; north In Atlantic to the Bahamas; casual 

 in Florida. 



58 



