CHAPTER I. 

 THE TERNS. 



"And wilt thou, little bird, go with us? 

 Thou mayst stand on the mainmast tall, 

 Foi' full to sinking is ray house 

 With merry companions all." 



Longfellow. 



p:^^^iHERE are about fifty members of the subfamily Sternince, which Mr. Howard 

 I JL fll Saunders divides into Hydrochelidon, Sterna, Ncenia, Gijgis and Anous. Hydrochelidon 

 ^^^^1 represents the well-known Marsh or Eiver Terns, which I do not consider 

 Ocean Birds, and we should not expect to meet any members of Ncenia or Gijgis on an 

 Australian voyage. 



We have therefore only to deal with a certain number of the Sea Terns (Sterna) and 

 Noddies (Anous). The coloration is very perplexing, as they have three different stages 

 of plumage, viz., the immature, the winter, and the adult breeding state. In the last 

 stage, as a rule, they have black heads. They all have fully webbed feet, armed with 

 sharp claws, a more or less long, thin, straight, sharp bill, and a more or less long 

 forked tail. In length they run from about twenty-two inches down to eight inches. 

 The members of the family that frequent Great Britain are only summer visitants. 



At sea all the Terns are called " Sea Swallows." They are much appreciated as 

 generally announcing the approach of the Tropics, and taking the place, astern of the 

 vessel, of the Procellariidm. 



Sterna. — Generic characters: — "Bill as long, or longer, than the head; nearly straight, 

 compressed, slender, tapering, with the edges sharp, and the end pointed ; the mandibles 

 of equal length, the upper one slightly curved towards the point. Nostrils near the 

 middle of the beak, pierced longitudinally, pervious. Legs slender, naked for a short 

 space above the tarsal joint ; tarsi short ; toes four, the three in front united by 



