THE FORSTER TERN. 



749 



'■>. 



antlv. It ma\" \'et be fouml tn nest in or near the northern tier nf States." It 

 has since actually been found breeding south to Texas anil Lower California, 

 and east to A'irginia, — in short, "in suitable localities thruout the United 

 States." 



Forster's Tern is pre-eminently a marsh-haunting species, and its range in 

 Washington appears to be confinetl to a few of the interior lakes. We haye 

 obser\-ed them in small companies onl_\' on 

 Moses Lake and at Brook Lake in Douglas 

 County. In this last-named haunt their 

 graceful gyrations impart the crowning- 

 touch of interest to a fertile and well- 

 remembered swamp. They arriye early in 

 May. but take only a languid interest in 

 local affairs until the first or second week in 

 June, when the Western Grebes are, or 

 should be. thru with tlieir \-ery conyenient. 

 and to the Terns quite indispensable, nest- 

 ing platforms. Altho the Grebe lias a cruel 

 beak, she seems unable, or imwilling, to use 

 it in self-defense, and will not contest 

 possession with the saucy Tern, eyen tho 

 her own eggs be half incubated. The nest 

 shown in the accompanying illustration 

 happened to be a fresh one. upon which the 

 Tern had made yery hasty requisition: but 

 I ha\'e seen others in which the eggs of the 

 rightful owner were nearly buried tinder a 

 little turret of dried reeds, ujion which the 

 Tern had been allowed to ]ilace her full 

 complement of eggs. 



Tho she herself 1)e an interloper, the 

 brooding bird resents intrusi(jn. di\'ing 

 angrily at the human yisitor and gix^ing 

 vent to the only cry which this bird utters, 

 a harsh, low a-a-a (like the (7 in bud). 



absurdly ineffecti^•e as a warning. All the neighbors join in the defense, and 

 the intruder is Ijerated in man\- inflections of \er}" platt Deutsch. Ex'ery other 

 ])oint in the bird's make-up, the mild eye, the jaunt}- cap, the snowy under- 

 plumage, the graceful lines of contour, the flowing streamers of the tail, so 

 belie this \ulgar \'eliemence that the obseryer is moyed to jeer: ".\w, now, 

 you ar'n't so z'crv mad!" 



Out of nesting hours the Forster Terns appear to di\ide their time about 



Taken ill Douglas Coinitv. 



'PI Ota bv the Author. 



FORSTER'S TERX. 



