ARCTIC TERN. 



899 



NATATORES. 



LARIDJE. 



THE ARCTIC TERN. 



Sterna arctica, Arctic Tern, Flem. Brit. An. p. 144. 



,, ,, ,, Selby, Brit. Ornitli. vol. ii. p. 473. 



,, ,, ,, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 267. 



,, ,, ,, Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 68. 



,, ,, ,, Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. iii. 



,, Hirondelle de mer arctique, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. vol. ii. p. 458. 



M. Temminck first pointed out the distinctions of tliis 

 species which had previously been confounded with the Com- 

 mon Tern ; these differences will be observed in the bill, the 

 legs, and in the colour of the plumage of the under surface of 

 the body. The bill is full one-quarter of an inch shorter 

 than that of the Common Tern, measured from the point to 

 the commencement of the black feathers on the forehead ; it 

 is also more slender in substance, a little more curved, and 



