LAEIDM. 65 



It is thus described by Yarrell, 'British Birds' (vol. iii. p, 395):— "lu the adult 

 bird in summer the bill, from the point to the nostrils, is black, from there to the base 

 or gape red ; the irides dark ; all the top of the head black ; neck all round white ; 

 back, wing-coverts, and quill-feathers ash-grey ; the outer webs of the primaries dark 

 grey, the inner webs lighter; tail-feathers very long, extending beyond the ends of the 

 wings, the colour pale ash-grey ; breast and all the under surface of the body white, 

 strongly tinted with a delicate rose-colour, whence the bird derives its name ; legs, toes, 

 and their membranes red. The whole length of the bird, fifteen inches and a half. 

 The plumage of the adult bird in winter is unknown ; but it is probable that it only 

 loses the black and the rose-colour, which belong to the breeding-season." 



Lesser Tern [Sterna minuta). — This, the smallest of the Terns that visit our shores, 

 is the type of a group of small Terns, called by some Stermda. I have often watched 

 the Lesser Tern in Scotland paddling along on a sandy shore, hunting for the 

 dainties exposed by a falling tide. They lay two or three eggs in any depression 

 in the ground. Those in my collection were taken by the Eiver Eden, N.B., just 

 above high- water mark. They are often met with at sea in the vicinity of laud ; :ind 

 I have a specimen in winter plumage that I caught on board ship off the Island of 

 Ascension. 



Dresser, in ' Birds of Europe,' says : — " The range of this, the least of our European 

 Terns, is not so extensive as that of some of its allies. It is met with throughout 

 temperate Europe, occurring in wmter on the coast of West Africa as far as the Cape 

 of Good Hope; and it is also found in Western Asia." 



Mr. H. Saunders says : — " This Tern, which has dark shafts to the outer primaries, 

 and the rump and tail white, ranges through temperate Europe to India; occurs in winter 

 on coast of West Africa as far as the Cape of Good Hope, whence there is a specimen 

 in the British Museum." 



It is thus described by Yarreh, 'British Birds' (vol. iii. p. 412): — "In the adult 

 bird in summer the beak is orange, tipped with black ; irides dusky ; forehead white, crown 

 of the head and the nape jet-black ; back and wings uniform delicate pearl-grey, the first, 

 second, and sometimes the third primary slate-grey; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers 

 white, tail forked ; chin, throat, sides of the neck, breast, and all the under surface of 

 the body pure white ; legs, toes, and membranes orange. The whole length of the bird 

 rather more than eight inches ; from the wrist to the end of the wing, six inches and 

 three-quarters. The adult bird in winter only varies in having the head dull black, instead 



