THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 57 



A rare straggler from the South, if indeed it still comes this far up 

 the coast. Formerly it bred rather commonly on the marshes of Cape 

 May county, where it was discovered by Wilson about 1813. In 1869 

 Turnbull regarded it as rare. In 1886 Mr. H. G. Parker^ reported it 

 still nesting at the lower end of Seven Mile Beach, and ^Ir. C. S. 

 Shick- spoke of it as still present in 1890, associating with the Laugh- 

 ing Gulls. We have no subsequent record for the State. 



64 Sterna caspia Pallas. 

 Caspian Tern. 



AduUs.— 'Length, 19-22. Wing, 15-17. Top of head, black, the feathers 

 elongated and hanging over the neck in a sort of crest ; back of neck, white ; 

 rest of upper parts, pale pearl-gray ; primaries, dark slate washed with gray 

 on outer webs; tail and under parts, white; bill large, red, slightly tipped 

 with black. 



In winter — Similar, but top of head gray, streaked with black. 



A very rare straggler on the coast. 



Mr. G. N". Lawrence^^ in 1850 reported a specimen in the collection 

 of Nicholas Pike, of Brooklyn, which was taken in Xew Jersey. This 

 was probably the basis for Turnbull's statement (1869) that "speci- 

 mens have been procured from the coast of New Jersey at rare 

 intervals," and so far as I know, there is no further evidence of its 

 occurrence. The records given under the Royal Tern may, however, 

 apply in part to this. 



65 sterna maxima Boddaert. 

 Royal Tern. 



Adults. — Length, 18-21. Wing, 14-15. Similar to the Caspian Tern, but 

 rather smaller, and with the inner webs of the primaries largely white. 



A very rare straggler on the coast. 



Turnbull introduced this species into the New Jersey fauna in 1869 

 as "very rare." Mr. Scott* observed two large Terns at Long Beach, 



» O. and O., 1886. p. 138. 



= Auk, 1890, p. 327. 



« Ann. N. Y. Lye. Nat. Hist., V.. p. 37. 



« Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1879, p. 227. 



