658 



HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA. THE BLACK 

 MARSH-TERN. 



BLACK TEEN. BLUE DARE. CAR SWALLOW. 



Sterna nigra. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 227. 

 Sterna fissipes. Linn. Syst. Nat. L 228. 

 Sterna nigra, and St. fissipes. Lath. Ind. Omith. IL 810. 

 Black Tern. Mont. Omith. Diet, and Supplt. 

 flirondelle-de-mer epouvantail. Temm. Man. d'Ornith. II. 749. 

 Black Tern. Sterna nigra. Selh. Illustr. Brit. Omith. II. 477. 

 Sterna nigra. Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 268. 

 Hydrochelidon nigra. Bonap. Comp. List. 



Bill black ; feet dark reddish-hrown ; tail emarginate, 

 about two inches sliorter than the icings ; head, neck, breast, 

 and abdomen greyish-black ; upper parts dark bluish-grey. 



Male in Summer. — Of slender form, with the neck rather 

 short ; the head of moderate size, oblong. Bill about the 

 length of the head, slender, nearly straight, compressed, 

 tapering, very acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line 

 slightly arched, the ridge gradually narroAved, the sides 

 slightly convex, the edges sharp, the tip attenuated. Nostrils 

 basal, linear, direct, pervious. Lower mandible with the 

 angle very narrow, the junction of the crura a little beyond 

 the middle, the sides erect, the edges sharp and slightly 

 inflexed, the tip extremely attenuated. 



Eyes rather small, as are the apertures of the ears. Feet 

 small ; tibia bare for a short space ; tarsus eight-twelfths 

 long, anteriorly scutellate ; toes very slender, the anterior 

 connected by short membranes, having a concave margin. 

 Claws long, slender, arched, compressed, acute. 



Plumage blended, soft. Wings very long, narrow, 

 pointed ; primary quills tapering, the outer slightly incur- 



