898 LARID.E. 



It is found also on the east coast, and it is common along 

 the shores of Suffolk and Norfolk, but more sparingly dis- 

 tributed on the coasts of Durham and Northumberland. It 

 visits the Isle of May, in the Frith of Forth, and other parts 

 of Scotland. This species is said to go very far north, but 

 not without some suspicion that the next species to be de- 

 scribed is the Tern most frequently found in high northern 

 latitudes. 



The Common Tern visits Germany, Holland, Switzerland, 

 France, Spain, Genoa, and Italy. The Zoological Society of 

 London have received specimens sent by Keith Abbott, Esq. 

 from Trebizond. It is found at Madeira, the Canary Islands, 

 at Senegal, and in South Africa. 



In the adult bird in summer the bill is coral-red, the point 

 black, irides dark brown ; forehead, crown, and nape black ; 

 back and wings ash-grey ; outside web of the first primary 

 slate-grey, the shaft white, inner web light-grey ; tail-coverts 

 white ; outer webs of tail-feathers pale ash-grey, inner webs 

 white ; chin, neck, breast, and under surface dull white ; 

 legs, toes, and membranes coral-red. The whole length of 

 the bird fourteen inches and a quarter ; from the wrist to the 

 end of the longest quill-feather ten inches and a half 



A young bird killed in August has the point of the beak 

 dark brown, the base reddish-yellow ; forehead dull white ; 

 posterior part of the crown, the ear-coverts, and the occiput 

 black ; chin, and neck all round white ; back and Aving- 

 coverts ash-grey, each feather margined with ash-brown and 

 white ; outer web of the first quill-feather black ; the others 

 ash-grey ; under surflice of the body white ; legs, toes, and 

 membranes reddish-brown. 



An adult bird obtained in December, by Mr. Henry 

 Doubleday, had the head black; and M. Temminck says 

 that the head is so usually, only more dull in colour in winter 

 than in summer. 



