ARCTIC TERN. 



Sterna par.a.dis.'Ea. 



Char. Mantle pearl gray ; darker on the wings ; rump and tail white ; 

 tail deeply forked ; lower parts gray tinged with pearl gray almost as dark 

 as the mantle ; paler on the throat ; bill and feet deep carmine. Length 

 14 to 17 inches. 



In winter the lower parts are whiter, and the crown has more white 

 than black feathers ; also the bill and feet are dusky. 



Nest. On the sand of a sea-beach, often amid shingle or drifted sea- 

 weed; sometimes a slight hollow sparsely lined with grass or weed-stems. 



Eggs. 2-4; not easily distinguished from those of S. hiriindo, but 

 usually of a darker ground color and more heavily marked ; ground 

 color varies from buff to huffish brown, and olive to olive brown, the 

 markings of several shades of brown ; average size about 1.55 X i.i5- 



The name of this bird — like the names of too many other 

 species — is misleading; for while the bird ranges through the 

 Arctic region and nests have been discovered as far north as lati- 

 tude 82°, yet numbers breed on the islands of the Bay of Fundy 

 and the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts. It is said to have 

 been abundant in the last-named State some years ago. 



