132 MANUAL 



eued body, are all charactcristi(!S of the Tenis. They secure 

 their food — usually fish — by darting upon it, from high in 

 air, with the velocity and the true aim of an arrow from the 

 bow of an expert archer. Most Terii.-< have a forked tail, so 

 that one can generally tell them, even while yet in the air, 

 from Gulls. They often occur a short distance inland, but 

 seldom stray far from the seacoast or its immediate vicinity. 

 Terns are social birds and fond of each others company ; throw 

 a dead tern even up high into the air and, if there be any liv- 

 ing terns near, even if not in sight at the time, numbers will 

 swoop down upon you in a moment. In general : Bill usu- 

 ally hard, horny, even at the point, and sharp tipped ; the 

 nostrils are always prominent and opening from one side of 

 the mandible to the other and are oblong slits — more or less 

 basal. Toes usually long compared to the short and weak tar- 

 sus ; webs not quite full, and concave rather than straight 

 edged. Even the young student, after a moment's examina- 

 tion, will hardly mistake the Terns for the Gulls. 



Genera, Sterna, The True Terns (14 species). 



Hi/drochelidon, The Black Tern and ally. 

 Anous, The Noddj- Tern. 



Sub-genera, GelocJielidoii for The Gull-billed Tern ; Thalasseus for the 

 Caspian, Cayenne, Elegant, and Sandwich Terns ; Sterna [proper] for the 

 Wilson's, Forster's, Arctic, Roseate, Trudeau's, Least, Aleutian, Sooty and 

 Bridled Terns. The Sooty Tern is sometimes named Haliplana. 



The SYNONYMS are hardly worth mentioning, being almost invariably 

 Sterna, {Sternula [little Sterna'] for The Least Tern,) and Thallasseus. 



Sub-family d RHYNCHOPINiE Skimmers 



The bill of this bird alone distinguishes it from anything 

 else in the bird kingdom. It is like a long, blunt pair of 

 shears, with part of the top (the upper mandible) broken off 

 part way from the tip which is then filed to a rounded point 

 as it lays upon its fellow. Otherwise it is a true Tern. Only 

 three species are, I believe, known to science ; one alone in- 

 habiting North America. 

 Genus, Rhynchops, The Black Skimmer. 



