ROSEATE TERN. 239 



after the autumn moult the forehead is white, the crown 

 speckled, and the nape brownish black, but the pearl-grey upper 

 parts are purer, though marked with a dusky band on the 

 shoulders. The bill and legs are much darker than in the 

 mature bird ; indeed, the former is almost black. The grey 

 breast of the adult Arctic Tern is without the vinaceous tinge 

 sometimes noticed on the Common Tern, and the cheeks 

 and throat are suffused with pale grey. The bill is blood-red, 

 the legs are coral, and the irides blackish brown. Length, 14-5 

 ins. Wing, 10 ins. Tarsus, 07 in. 



Roseate Tern. Sterna dougalli Montagu. 



The Atlantic breeding range of the Roseate Tern (Plate 105) 

 is more southerly than that of the Common Tern ; closely allied 

 sub-species are found scattered over the Indian Ocean, Pacific, 

 and other seas. In the northern part of its range it is migratory, 

 and is a summer visitor to Britain in small numbers. Many of 

 its former nesting haunts in the British Isles have long been 

 deserted, but there is one flourishing colony and a second, much 

 smaller, in Wales, and a few pairs nest on the Fames, and 

 perhaps still in Scotland. In Ireland it was thought to be 

 extinct, until one small colony was discovered recently, and 

 there is evidence that pairs have occasionally nested in other 

 parts of England and Ireland. 



The evanescent salmon-pink tint of the under parts of the 

 Roseate Tern is not always easy to see ; in direct sunlight it 

 is usually plain. Better characters are the much blacker bill 

 and the noticeably long tail streamers. I have watched it 

 flying amongst a screaming mob of Common Terns, heard its 

 call, and had no difficulty in picking it out ; the body looks 

 long and slender, the wings are shorter, and the tail much 

 longer than that of its companions. Although several reliable 

 observers affirm that the wings move more rapidly than those 



