NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 171 



ing from brown to greenish ; thickly spotted and blotched with brown and 

 lilac of various sizes, but mostly large and bold, of light and blackish 

 brown, probably thickest around the larger end, They resemble some of 

 the Sandpipers' eggs in size, shape and color. Two or three in number; 

 size 1.35 by .95. The little Black or Short-tailed Tern, with exceedingly 

 long wings, is distributed throughout North America at large, both along 

 the coast and in the interior, breeding anywhere in colonies in marshes 

 and reedy sloughs in June, depositing the eggs on dead reeds, often 

 floating. 



Hab. Temperate and tropical America. From Alaska and Fur Countries to Chili; breeding from the 

 Middle United States northward. 



G95. Noddy Tern — anous stolidus. Ashy yellow or buff, spotted 

 and blotched with pale chocolate-brown and lilac ; almost invariably one or 

 two eggs are laid, many writers say three; size about 2. by 1.35. This 

 Tern is widely distributed over the tropical and subtropical parts of the 

 globe. In North America it inhabits the South Atlantic and Gulf States, 

 breeding numerously and placing the bulky nest of sticks on the low, 

 dense growth of mangrove and other bushes that grow at the water's 

 edge. Nesting in May. 



697. Pomarine Jaeger — stercorarius pomatorhinus. The Pomarine 

 Jaeger or Skua, breeds in high northern latitudes, nesting on the ground 

 in elevated spots in marshes. The eggs are very pointed and grayish-olive 

 in ground-color, marked with numerous bold umber-brown and blackish 

 markings. They are, however, very variable in ground-color and mark- 

 ings; size about 2.45 by 1.73. The Skua Gulls or Jaegers are all rapa- 

 cious, living on putrid fish and animal flesh, attacking terns and smaller 

 gulls and forcing them to drop their prey, which they snatch before it 

 reaches the water. They also devour the eggs of the sea-birds. 



Hab. Seas and inland waters of Northern Hemisphere, south in winter to Africa and Australia, and 

 probably South America. Not known to occur in winter on the Atlantic coast of North America north of 

 Long Island. 



698. Richardson's Jaeger — stercorarius crepidatus Deep yellow- 

 ish or greenish-brown, spotted and blotched with brown and umber of 

 varying shades; two or three in number; pointed oval in shape and meas- 

 ure from 2. to 2.40 long by 1.50 to 1.70 broad. The eggs are as variable 

 in color of the ground and markings as those of the Eskimo Curlew. Nest- 

 ing and general habits same as those of the preceding. Breeds in interior 

 Arctic America. 



Hab. Northern part of Northern Hemisphere, southward in winter to South Africa and South America. 

 Breeds in high northern districts, and winters from the Middle States and California southward to Brazil and 

 Chili. 



