6 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



Cabot's Tern has been found breeding in small numbers on 

 "Bird Bank," Bull's Bay, where the eggs are laid during the 

 second week in June. Two or three eggs comprise the full 

 complement, and these are creamy-buff marked with spots and 

 blotches of brown and black, measuring 2.12X1-40. 



Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson records^ the breeding of this species in 

 Pamlico Sound, North CaroUna. This is the most northerly 

 record, by two degrees, and must be considered the limit of its 

 breeding range. 



15. Sterna forsteri Nutt. Forster's Tern. 



This tern can fairly be considered a permanent resident, yet 

 it does not breed. During the winter months, it is the only small 

 tern to be seen. On June 18, 1901, I observed thousands of these 

 birds on "Bird Bank," Bull's Bay. Two of these, in immature 

 plumage {=S. havellii Aud.), were shot, but their sexual organs 

 showed no approach to the breeding season. I doubt if this tern 

 breeds in the immature plumage. 



Forster's Tern breeds from Texas to Manitoba and locally on 

 the Atlantic coast. 



16. Sterna hirundo Linn. Common Tern. 



This species is an abundant transient visitant during both 

 migrations, but I have yet to see a specimen taken during the win- 

 ter months. Audubon says:^ 



It seems quite curious to see these young birds in winter, during boisterous 

 weather, throwing themselves into the remotest parts of estuaries, and even 

 visiting salt-water ponds at some distance from the sea, as I have often seen 

 them do at Charleston, in South Carolina, when accompanied by my friend the 

 Rev. Dr. Bachman. 



The birds seen by Audubon were undoubtedly Forster's Terns, 

 which he described as a new species, naming it Havell's Tern 

 (/S. havellii). 



17. Sterna dougalli Montag. Roseate Tern. 



This beautiful species is a rare transient visitant, evidently 

 migrating at some distance from land, following the coast 

 islands to and from its breeding grounds. Mr. Ellison A. Smyth, 

 Jr., has taken it near Charleston in October. 



^Auk, XXV, 1908, 312. » Birds of America, VII, 99. 



