I'.IRDS OF 



About the middle of May this dainty little Gull arrives in 

 small flocks, and for a week or two enlivens the shores of the 

 Bay with its airy gambols, but soon passes on farther north to 

 its breeding grounds. In the fall it returns, subdued in dress 

 and manners, remains till the weather begins to get cold, and 

 then retires to the South to spend the winter. 



It has a wide distribution, being found at some period of 

 the year at almost every point on the continent. Speaking of 

 this species in the " Birds of the Northwest," Dr. Coues says ; 

 "This little Gull holds its own, from the Labrador crags, 

 against which the waves of an angered ocean ceaselessly beat, 

 to the low, sandy shores of the Gulf, caressed by the soothing bil- 

 lows of a tropical sea." 



Subfamily STERNIN^E Terns. 

 Genus STERNA Linn^us. 

 SuRGENus THALASSEUS Boie. 

 20. STERNA TSCHEGRAVA Lepech. 64. 



Caspian Tern. 



Adult male ; Crown, sides of the head, and hind head, black, glossed with 

 green, back and wings, light bluish-gray, the outer primaries dark bluish-gray 

 on the inner webs, upper tail coverts and tail grayish-white, neck and lower 

 parts pure white, bill rich vermilion, legs and feet black, tail slightly forked. 

 Young mottled and barred with dull brown. Length 20 inches. 



Hab. Nearly cosmopolitan ; in North America breeding southward to 

 Virginia, Lake Michigan, Nevada, and California. 



Eggs, two, laid in a hollow in the sand ; pale olive buff, marked with 

 spots of dark brown. 



The harsh cry, long pointed wings, and coral red bill of this 

 species, at once attract the attention of any one who may happen 

 to be close enough for observation. In spring, when at liberty 

 to move about, they visit Hamilton Bay in small numbers, and 

 are seen fishing, about the mouths of the inlets or more frequent- 

 ly basking in the sun on a sandy point which runs out into the 



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