LKAST TERN. 57 



"111 the lirst wci-k in August, 1870, when li-ii\clling' from Nurth 

 Uist to Beiibecula, ;iiul ciossing the ford which separates the two 

 island;^, T witnessed a \eiy interesting liabit of this tern. I had hieen 

 previously told by a friend to look out for the Ijirds which he said 1 

 •should finrl waiting for luf on the sands. Li^pon coming within .sight 

 of the first forfl, 1 observed between twenty and thirty terns sitting 

 quietl)' on the Ijanks of the salt water stream, l)ut the moment the}- 

 saw us approaching they rose on the wing to meet us, and kept 

 hovei'ing gracefully on^t our lieads till the pony ste})ped into the 

 water. As soon as the wheels of the conveyance were fairly into the 

 stream, the terns poised their wings for a moment, then precipitated 

 themselves with a splash exactly above the wheel tracks and at once 

 arose, each with a smd eel wriggling in its l)ill. vSome had been 

 caught by the head and were unceremoniously swallowed, but others 

 which had been seized by the middle were allowed to drop, and were 

 again caught properly by the head before they reached the water. 



" I was told by the residents that it is a habit of the birds to be 

 •continually on the watch for passing vehicles, the wheels of which 

 bring the sand eels momentarily to the surface, and the (|uiek.eyes of 

 the terns enable the birds to transfix them on the spot. ' 



Slh(;i;nus STERNULA Boik. 

 8TERNA ANTILLARU^r {Lk.s.s.). 



28. Least Tern. (7+) 



Bill, yellow. u.siuiUy tipped witli lilack ; maiitk-, ])ale pearly giayish-blue, 

 unchanged on the riinip and tail ; a irliUt fronfal crescent, separating the cap 

 from the bill, bounded below b\' a black loral stripe reaching the bill ; shafts of 

 two or more outer primaries, black on the upper surface, white underneath ; 

 feet, orange. Youiif/: — Cap, too defective to show the crescent ; bill, dark, 

 much of the under mandible i)ale ; feet, obseuieil. Very small, only 8-9; wing, 

 6^6^; tail, 2-3^; bill, 1-^; tarsus, >;. 



H.\B. — Northern South America, northward to California and Xew England, 

 and casually to Labrador, breeding nearh' throughout its range. 



Eggs, two or three, variable in color, usually drab, speckled with lilac and 

 brown ; left in a slight depression in the dry beach sand beyond the reach 

 of water. 



This is a refined miniature of the Common Tern, and a very 

 handsome, active little bird. It is common along the sea coast to 

 the south of us, but prol)al)ly does not often come so far north as 



