Judging by the evidence at present available it seems likely that the 

 arctic terns of eastern North America originally found their way here 

 from the Old World, probably by way of Iceland and Greenland. 

 Consequently when the time comes for them to migrate to winter 

 quarters they do not go directly south as do the common and Forster's 

 terns, but instead they fly back eastward along their ancestral route 

 across the Atlantic to the shores of Europe and then go south along 

 the African coast to their winter home. Those that breed in the north- 

 western part of the continent, as in Alaska, probably migrate chiefly 

 down the western coast, as the species is not infrequently reported on 

 the coast of California and also on the western coast of South America. 



The evidence yielded by banding consists of only six definite cases, 

 but their interpretation permits but one conclusion. All were banded 

 either as downy chicks or as nonflying immature birds. The details 

 of their banding and recovery are of sufficient interest to justify citing 

 in detail. The first was banded on July 3, 1913, at Eastern Egg Rock, 

 Maine,^ and in August 1917 was found dead in the Niger River delta, 

 West Africa. The second was banded at the Red Islands, Turnevik 

 Bay, Labrador, on July 22, 1927, and was recovered near La Rochelle, 

 France, on October i, 1927. The third, also banded on the Red Islands, 

 on July 23, 1928, was retaken at Margate, near Port Shepstone, Natal, 

 South Africa, on November 14, 1928. The fourth, banded at Machias 

 Seal Island, New Brunswick, on July 20, 1935, was captured near St. 

 Nazaire, France, October 8, 1935. The fifth and sixth were banded at 

 Machias Seal Island also; the fifth, banded July 5, 1947, was found on 

 November 10, 1948, at Kingfisher Creek, Sedgefield, near Wilderness, 

 Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, while the sixth, banded on July 

 18, 1948, was picked up dead during the latter part of September 1948 

 on the hills near Kyle Strome, Sutherland, Scotland. All that re- 

 mained of the bird that provides the last-named case was a mutilated 

 foot and it appeared that it had been the victim of some predator. It 

 should be pointed out that the flights indicated in the third and fifth 

 cases detailed above, are the longest known for any birds. Both are 

 between 8,000 and 9,000 miles, which in the case of No. 3 was accom- 

 plished in less than 3 months. 



Probably no other animal in the world enjoys as many hours of 

 daylight as does the arctic tern, since for these birds the sun never sets 



* Recorded at the time of banding as a common tern, a natural error, as the downy young of 

 common and arctic terns look almost exactly alike. 



40 



