652 LITTLE TERN. 



but is abundant on the south shore of that sea ; while it follows 

 the course of the large rivers for a great distance, and nests on 

 their islands and sand-banks, so that it may be said to extend across 

 the Continent to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. It 

 also frequents the Atlantic coast, breeds in North Africa as far as 

 Lower Egypt, and on the west side it descends in winter to Cape 

 Colony. Along the Asian plateau it is found nesting as far as 

 Northern India, visiting Burma and even Java; but in Ceylon, 

 China, and the eastern region generally, its representative is 

 S. sine/isis, which is rather larger and has white shafts to all its 

 primaries; while S. saundersi, with black shafts, inhabits the 

 African and Indian coasts. In North America we find S. aiifilla?-iim, 

 with dark shafts, as in our bird, but with a grey rump and very 

 little black at the tip of the bill ; whereas on the east side of South 

 America and far up the great rivers, S. siiperciliaris, with stout and 

 wholly yellow bill, is the representative species. These and other 

 small Terns have been placed by some systematists in the genus 

 Sternula. 



The 2-3 eggs, laid on the bare shingle or soil towards the end of 

 May or early in June, are stone-coloured — often with a bluish 

 tinge — spotted with ash-grey and dark brown: measurements i'35 

 by "95 in. Far from showing fear when its haunts are approached, 

 the bird advances with rapid beats of its long pinions, uttering a 

 peculiarly sharp pirre, and it will frequently settle on its nest not 

 long after being disturbed. It feeds on small surface-swimming 

 fish and their fry, shrimps and other crustaceans. Like most Terns, 

 it may often be seen swimming or resting on the water. 



The adult in. summer has the bill orange-yellow tipped with 

 black : forehead white, loral stripe, crown and nape black ; mantle 

 pearl-grey; wing-feathers grey, with white margins to the inner webs, 

 and with dark shafts to the two outer quills, which are, moreover, 

 ash-grey ; tail and entire under-parts white ; legs and feet orange. 

 Length 9 to 9"5 in., according to the length of the tail ; wing 675 in. 

 In winter the black on the head is duller in colour. The young 

 bird (figured in the background) has the bill dark brown at the tip, 

 paler at the base ; forehead, crown and nape tinged with buff and 

 streaked with blackish-brown ; mantle dull grey, tinged with buff 

 and mottled with umber ; tail-feathers greyish-white, slightly freckled 

 with brown near the tips. The black loral streak is not well defined 

 until after the second moult, up to which period a dark line on the 

 carpal joint and a grey tinge on the rump and tail-feathers indicate 

 immaturity ; breeding takes place the following spring. 



