THE SOOTY TERN 



235 



from the level of high tide, within easy reach of the showers of 

 spray. It also breeds on the shingle-banks near the mouths of 

 rivers. 



White-fronted Tern. 



O'oij. Erebus and Terror.) 



The Sooty Tern. 



Sterna fuliginosa. 



Above, sooty black. Forehead, below, and outer tail feathers, white. 

 3111 and feet reddish black. Length of the wing, 11.75 inches; of the 

 tarsus, 0.9 inch. Egg — Pinkish white, spotted with dark reddish brown 

 and grey; length, 2 inches. Kermadec Islands, tropical and sub-tropical 

 ;seas. 



It lays a single Qg^ on the bare ground, generally in scrub. 



