52 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Tlie harsh cry, long pointed wings, and coral y^-(\ l)iil of this 

 species at once attract the attention of an\'one wlio may happen tcv 

 be close enough for observation. In spring, when the departure of 

 the ice gives them the privilege of roving about over the inland 

 waters, they visit Hamilton Bay in small nunilxis. and are seen 

 fishing about the mouths of the inlets, or more frequently basking in 

 the sun on a sandy point which runs out into the ])ay opposite Dynes" 

 place. In the fall they pay a similar visit, but at that season they 

 are less attractive in appearance, the l)ill having lost much of its 

 brilliancy, and the plumage being ct)mparati\el3' dull. 



This is the largest of the terns, and it has a very wide distribu- 

 tion, being found breeding at diffeient i)oints, from the Gulf of 

 Mexico to Alaska, and along the entire Atlantic coast. It is also 

 said to occur in various portions of the eastern hemisphere, including 

 Australia. It does not bieed in communities like many of the other 

 terns, being mostly found in retiretl places in single pairs. 



STERNA SANDVICENSIS ACUFLAVIDA (Cahot.). 

 24. Cabot's Tern. (G7) 



Bill, rather longer than the liead, .slender, black, with the tip yellow, mouth 

 inside, deep Ijlue ; feet, black ; wings longer than tail, whioli i.s deeply forked : 

 upper part of the head and liind neck, blui.sh-black ; side.s of the head, neck all 

 round, and rest of the lower parts, white; the sides and breast tinged with 

 pink ; fore part of the back, scapulare and upper surface of the wing.s, j)ale 

 bluish-gray ; the tips and greater part of the inner web of the scapulars and 

 quills, white, as are the rump and tail ; the four outer quills l)lackish, but 

 covered with light gray down on the outer webs, and over a considerable poi- 

 tion of the inner, their shafts white. Length, l.')-16; wing, 12-50. 



Hab. — Tropical America, nortliward along the .Atlantic coast irregularly toi 

 southern New England. 



Eggs, two or three, dropped on the dry sand, latiier |)i)inted. yellowi.sh-dr;ib.. 

 spotted with dark ami i-eddish-ljrown. 



In tlie spring (tf 1S.S2, I)i". (iaiiiier noticed three terns of this 

 species coursing around a mill-pond not far fi'om his residence at 

 Lucknow. The Doctor attended to them at once, and the lesult was 

 that one went clear off toward Lake Huron, another- wriggled with 

 difficulty after it, and the third fell dead on the pond. I afterwai-d 

 saw this specimen mounted, and satisfied myself of its identity. It is 

 difficult to account fo?- birds wandering away at tinxes beyond their 



