SANDWICH TERN 383 
abdomen, white; back, scapulars, and wings, ‘pearl’ grey ; 
tips of primaries, frosted on a dark sround-colour ;_ tail, 
ereyish-white, and slightly forked. 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar to the male plumage. 
Adult winter, male and female.—Top of head streaked 
with black and white ; dark greyish-black patch behind the 
ear-coverts. 
Immature, male and female——Top and front of head, 
whitish ; back, scapulars, wings, and tail, marked with ash- 
brown; primaries, ash-grey. 
Beak. Vermilion-red. 
Freer. Black. 
Tribes. Dark brownish-black. 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... ... 20 in. Female smaller. 
WING va cM ERAS PG oes 
BEAK ee ae sens SP totaled 
TARSO-METATARSUS stay cHO? dase 
Eee ae ae eee et2>, Sealers 
SANDWICH TERN. Sterna cantiaca (J. F. Gmelin). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. v, pl. 
69; Dresser, ‘ Birds of Europe,’ vol. viii, pl. 586; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. vi, pl. 6. Booth, ‘Rough Notes,’ 
vol. iii, pl. 32. 
This fine bird, so named, because it was first observed 
frequenting the vicinity of Sandwich on the coast of Kent 
in 1784, is an annual spring-visitor to the British Isles. 
It arrives comparatively early, appearing in some localities 
before April, migrating southward early in autumn. 
Though found in widely distributed colonies, this 
species is far from being plentiful. It breeds in most of 
the southern and eastern counties of England, also in 
Cumberland, and on Walney Island off the coast of Lanca- 
shire. Colonies, moreover, exist along various points of 
the Scottish sea-board, especially on the east side, and in 
1893, it was discovered breeding in one of the Orkneys. 
