82 TERNS. 



with black instead of beinc; entirely red ; in having longer tarsi, and in the 

 color of the primaries. 



Range. — " Greater part of the northern hemisphere and Africa; in North 

 America chiefly confined to the eastern province " (A. O. U.). Breeds locally 

 both on the coast and in the interior from the Gulf States to the Barren 

 Grounds and Greenland. 



Washington, irregular T. V., sometimes common. Long Island, common 

 S. E., May through Sept. Sing Sing, casual in late summer. Cambridge, 

 casual in Sept. 



Eggs.^ three to four, not distinguishable with certainty from those ot 

 the preceding, but averaging paler and greener, and less heavily marked, 

 1-60 X 1-20. 



It is five years since I visited the breeding grounds of the colony 

 of Common Terns on Gull Island, L. I., but I can close my eyes and 

 still feel the air vibrate with the harsh, half-threatening, half-pleading 

 chorus of nearly two thousand excited voices. There is a dull, heavy, 

 hopeless monotone, broken only by the scream of some half-maddened 

 bird who fearlessly darts downward to protect its nest at my feet. A 

 shot is fired ; there is a moment of awe-struck silence, then, with re- 

 newed violence, the screaming is resumed. Pandemonium reigns: 

 tearr, terrrr, swish ! the air is full of darting, diving, crying Terns. 

 It was useless to attempt to secrete myself. At no time during my 

 stay did the outcry cease or hovering flock disperse. 



This little, barren, uninhabited, sandy island — only a few acres in 

 extent — and Muskeget Island, off the Massachusetts coast, are the only 

 localities, from New Jersey to Maine, where the once abundant Common 

 Tern, or Sea Swallow, can be found in any numbers. What an illus- 

 tration of the results of man's greed and woman's thoughtlessness ! 

 The fickle fashion which indorsed the poor Tern's spotless plumage 

 has long since found new favorites, and the sadly mangled pearl-gray 

 feathers Iiave gone to graves in the ash-heap. Now it is the Egret's 

 turn. 



Even the protection afforded by an insular home was not sufficient. 

 Feather hunters, Qgg robbers, and self-styled oologists came in boats 

 to drive the Sea Swallows from their last resort ; but the law inter- 

 fered, and both Gull and Muskeget Islands now have a paid keeper 

 whose duty it is to protect the Terns. 



71. Sterna paradissea Brvnn. Arctic Tern.— Very similar in 

 color to the Common Tern, from which it diff"ers in having less gray on the 

 shaft part of the inner web of the outer primaries (Fig. 61,</) ; in having the 

 tail somewhat longer, the tarsi and bill shorter, while the latter, in the adult, 

 is generally without a black tip. L., 15-50; W., 10-25; T., 7*50; Tar., -65; 

 B., 1-30. 



Mange. — " Northern hemisjiliere ; in North America, breeding from Massa- 



