BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 45 



Nest : Made of flags or marsh vegetation ; lined with weeds ; in wet 



marshy place, or floating among rushes. 

 Eggs : 2 or 3 ; from pure white to pale green or brown-gray, irregularly 



spotted with several shades of brown and purple. Size 1.85 X 1.35. 



Dr. Brewer calls this species " pre-eminently a marsh 

 tern," and says that its monotonous cry closely resembles 

 the call note of a loggerhead shrike. It is found nest- 

 ing in colonies in company with gull-billed terns and 

 Bonaparte gulls in suitable localities throughout its 

 breeding range, but chiefly on large lakes in the interior. 

 Its food consists of minnows, insects, and refuse floating 

 on the water. 



74. LEAST TERN. — Sterna antillarum. 



Family : The Gulls and Terns. 



Length: 8.50-9.75. 



Adults in Summer : Upper parts pearl-gray ; under parts white ; fore- 

 head white; crown, lores, and nape jet black; bill yellow, usually 

 tipped with black ; feet orange. 



Adults in Winter : Similar, but lores and crown white ; nape black ; bill 

 black. 



Young : Similar to winter adults, but upper parts mottled with blackish 

 and buffy. 



Doivny Younq : Up])er }>arts pale buH"y gray, finely mottled with dusky ; 

 head distinctly marked with irregular black speckles ; under parts 

 white. 



Geographical Distribution : Northern South America, north to California, 

 Minnesota, New England, and casually to Labrador. 



Breeding Jlange : Breeds locally nearly throughout its range. In Cali- 

 fornia as far north as Ballona Beacli, Los Angeles County. 



Breeding Season : Approximately, May 1 to July 15. 



Xest : Scarcely perceptible hollow in the bare sand of the beach ; unlined. 



Eggs: 2 or 3 ; greenish gray, spotted with light and dark brown, and 

 light purple. Occasionally these markings form a wreath at the 

 larger end. Size 1.25 X 0.95. 



Sea Swallow and Little Striker arc the common 

 names applied to this little tern, although sea swallow 



