TERNS 



exterminated on the Atlantic coast. 'l"he adults 

 were shot on their breeding grounds and the 

 young left to starve in the nests, but now, under 

 protection, they are beginning to increase and 

 may be found breeding with the Common Terns 

 on isolated islands off the New England coasts. 

 This Tern keeps mostly to the sea and its bays, 

 sounds, and estuaries. Its nest is built ofteri 

 among low vegetation and the young can hardly 

 be distinguished from the downy chicks of the 

 Common Tern. The adult birds, however, are 

 quite different from that species, a little slower 



and iiKjre graceful in thght. They ma\- be 

 readily identified l)y the black bill, the long grace- 

 ful white tail, the rosy ajijiearance of the breasi 

 and other under parts, and their incisive notes. 

 W hen excited, they call hoxit, liayit, ending with 

 a prolonged cry, but the alarm note conimonlv 

 heard is cac, cac. In the latitude of New Eng- 

 land, about the first of August, the young are 

 well able to fly, and they join the wandering 

 flocks which visit the shores, far and near, be- 

 fore the southern migration begins. 



Iunv.\Kii Howe Forbush. 



LEAST TERN 

 Sterna antillarum (Lesson) 



.\. O. I', .\umljtr 74 .-^ee Colur I'latc 7 



Other Names. — Silver Ternlet : Sea Swallow; Little 

 Striker ; Little Tern ; ilinute Tern. 



General Description. — Length. 9 inches. Color 

 above, pale grayish-blue ; below, satiny-white. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Crown, glossy greenish- 

 black with a tiarrozo zi'hitc crescent until horns reaching 

 above eyes and cxtenditui to bill, but separated from 

 white of cheeks by a dusky line through eye to bill; 

 entire upper parts, including tail, pale grayish-blue 

 rcachinij to the black cap and fading on sides of head 

 and neck into satiny-white of all under parts; two 

 outer primaries, black with white space on inner webs ; 

 rest of primaries, a darker shade of color of back; bill, 

 yellow tipped with black: feet, orange yellozc; iris, 

 brown. Adults in Winter: Forehead, lores, and 

 crown, white, the latter with black shaft lines; back of 

 head and nape, dusky, connecting with a narrow streak 

 through eye ; hindneck. white ; mantle, darker than in 



summer ; edge of wing and a band along forearm, gray- 

 ish-black ; most of primaries, plain dusky. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In pebbly depression or on 

 the dry sand of beaches. Eggs: i to 4, from pale 

 greenish to dull drab, spotted over entire surface with 

 splashes and dots of different shades of clear brown 

 and some lavender. 



Distribution. — Tropical and temperate America ; 

 breeds on coast of southern California and on Gulf 

 coast from Te.xas eastward ; also northward to Mis- 

 souri (formerly Iowa) and northwestern Nebraska; 

 has occurred in Wisconsin and South Dakota ; breeds 

 also from the coasts of Massachusetts, Virginia, North 

 Carolina, and Florida south to the Bahamas, \\"est 

 Indies. British Honduras, and Venezuela; now rare 

 everywhere; in migration occurs on the coasts of Lower 

 California and western Mexico; winters from Gulf 

 coast to X'enezuela and Peru. 



Uncjuestionably the most dainty of all the 

 American sea-birds is the Least Tern. This 

 petite little creature is adorned with a pair of 

 silvery-gray wings that carry it on long voyages 

 up and down the coast. From its winter home in 

 the tropics it comes north in spring to California 

 and Massachusetts anrl in both States it finds a 

 summer home. A few pass tip the Mississippi 

 valley and it has been recorded as far north as 

 South Dakota. Thirty years ago they swarmed 

 literally by thousands in our Atlantic waters near 

 the shore-line but the feather-hunters made sad 

 work of them. There is a record of ten thou- 

 sand having been shot for their feathers on Cobb 

 Island, Virginia, in a single season. This was 

 of course done in the summer and the orphaned 

 young were left to perish on the beache:;. 



At one time large colonies existed in the S(junds 

 of North Carolina : but their numbers became so 

 reduced that when the Audubon Society wardens 

 were first established in that territory, in the 

 spring of 1003, only sixteen eggs were laid in the 

 bird colonies that year. They have responded 

 splendidly to protection and although many years 

 must elapse before we can hope to have them as 

 abundant as formerly they are nevertheless in- 

 creasing in a most encouraging way. 



Like the other members of this family they 

 prev mainlv upon small fish which they capture 

 by a swift ])lunge from the air. 'I'hey do not con- 

 fine themselves entirely to this diet, however, and 

 often catch such insects as are found flying over 

 the marshes. 



Least Terns are usually seen in small scattered 



