c 



,o STERNA AN^THETUS. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Length, 7-oO to 8-00; stretch, 25-(X) to --'U-rxj; wing-, (rDO to G-50; tail, o-(H) to 3-30; bill, T.5 to -70; tarsus, 

 1-50 to 1-GO. 



HABITS. 

 The White-faced Petrel is another straggler to our coast from Tropical waters. It 

 is pri)b;il)le that this species resembles other members of the family in habit, fieijuentins 

 the open ocean almost constantly, only visiting the land to bleed; its nesting place, how 

 ever, appears to be unknown. 



STERNA ANI/ETHETUS. 

 Bridled Tern. 

 Sterna ANiETiiETUS Scop., Del. Faun, et Flor. Ins.; II, 178G. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Ch. Size, rather large. Form, slender. Bill, long, slender, and [xiinted. Webs of toes, espe- 

 cially the inner, considerably incised. Tail, deeply forked. 



Color. Adult. Above, plumbeous ashy, blackening on wings, beet ming gradually white on upper neck 

 and lighter on tail, the outer feathers of which are white, excepting a small space of plumbeous on terminal 

 third of outer web; basal portion of otlier tail feathers, decreasing in amount toward the center, also white. 

 Crown, to line of lower eyelid, black. Crescent on forehead, the horns of which extend back of eye for a lit- 

 tle more than its width, entire under parts, including under wing and tail coverts, the basal portion of wing 

 feathers, extending along in a central line cm primaries, and along the inner margin of inner web on second- 

 aries, white. Iris, brown. Bill and feet, black. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Largest specimen. Wing, 10'75; tail, 5'25; bill, 1'60; tarsus, 'SO. Smallest specimen. Wing, 10'50; 

 tail, 5-00; bill, 1-56; tarsus, -75. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This species somewhat resembles the Sooty Tern, but differs in being decidedly plumbeous above, not 

 sooty black, in having a whitish collar about the neck, and in having the horns of the white crescent on the 

 forehead extending back of the eye, not stopping in front of it, as in the Sooty: besides which, the Bridled is 

 a smaller and more slender bird. Distributed, in summer, throughout American Tropical waters, north- 

 ward to the Bahamas; migrating southward in winter; wandering casually to Florida. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Eggs, one in number, placed beneath rocks, on the naked surface of the ground, without a vestige of a 

 nest, varying from oval to elliptical in form, creamy in color, spotted and blotched, eitluT finely of coarsely, 

 or both, with yellowish brown and umber, while some of the spots ai-e. oveidaid with shell, producing a paler 

 shade. Dimensions, from l"75x]'2.i to TBOx 1-30. 



HABITS. 

 Scattered thronghout the Bahamas, among the larger islands, are little I'ocky keys, 

 either destitute of vegetation or co^-ered with a sparce growth of bushes or with a more 

 luxuriant crop of cacti. Whenever these islets are surrounded with deeji water, wheth- 

 er at a remote distance from the larger islands or not, they are occupied by the Sooty, 

 Bridled, and Noddy Terns as breeding grounds. As I had an excellent opportunity of 

 observing these three species of Terns during the nesting season, 1 shall give some ac- 

 count of the habits of them all. 



