565 

 THE ROSEATE TERN. 



STERNA DOUGALLII. 



Bill black, red at the base ; feet orange, claws small, black ; tarsus three- 

 quarters of an inch long ; tail much forked, much longer than the wings ; 

 upper part of the head and nape black ; rest of the upper plumage pale ash- 

 grey ; tail white, the outer feathers very long and pointed ; cheeks and under 

 plumage white, tinged on the breast and belly with rose. Length fifteen and 

 a half inches. Eggs yellowish stone-colour, spotted and speckled with ash- 

 grey and brown. 



Op tliis Tern Dr. M'Dougall, its discoverer, says, " It is of 

 light and very elegant figure, difiering from the Common 

 Tern in the size, length, colour, and curvature of the bill ; 

 in the comparative shortness of the wing in proportion to 

 the tail, in the purity of the whiteness of the tail, and 

 the peculiar conformation and extraordinary length of the 

 lateral feathers. It also differs from that bird in the 

 hazel-colour and size of the legs and feet." 



Roseate Terns have been discovered on several parts of 

 the coast, principally in the north, as in the mouth of the 

 Clyde, Lancashire, and the Earn Islands. They associate 

 Avith the Common Terns, but are far less numerous. Selby 

 says, " the old birds are easily recognised amidst hundreds 

 of the other species by their peculiar and buoyant flight, 

 long tail, and note, which may be expressed by the word 

 crake, uttered in a hoarse grating key." 



THE COMMON TERN. 



STERNA HIRUNDO, 



Bill moderate, red with a black tip ; head and long feathers on the back of the 

 head black ; upper parts bluish ash ; quills ash-grey, brown at the tips ; tail 

 much forked, not longer than the wings, white, the two outer feathers on each 

 side dusk>' on the outer webs ; under parts white, tinged with grey on the 

 breast ; irides reddish brown ; feet coral-red. Young birds have a good deal of 

 white about the head, and the feathers on the back are tipped vnth white : 

 tail ash-grey, whitish at the tip. Length thirteen and a half inches. Egg 

 olive-brown, blotched and spotted with ash and dusky. 



On those parts of the coast where the Common Tern is 

 abundant, no sea-bird is more likely to attract the notice 



