LARIDZ, TERNS.— GEN. 289-92. 319 
apparently just about that of the gulls. Some twenty “genera” have been imposed 
upon the terns—three-quarters of these are of no account whatever. 
N.B. Understand white, the pilewm black, the quills silvered-dusky with long 
white stripe, unless the descriptions state otherwise. 
289-92. Genus STEHRNA Linneus. 
* Bill remarkably short, stout and obtuse, hardly or not half as long again as 
the tarsus. (Gelochelidon.) 
Gull-billed, or Marsh Tern. Bill and feet black; mantle pearly grayish- 
blue, this color extending on the rump and tail; primaries with the white 
stripe restricted to their base, their shafts white. Length 13-15; extent 
about 384; wing 10-12; tail 4, forked only 2 or less, the lateral feathers little 
narrowed; tarsi 1-14; bill 1$. Eastern United States; apparently not 
abundant in this country. Europe, ete. S. aranea Wits., viii, 143, pl. 72, 
f. 6; Lawr. in Bp., 859; S. anglica Nutr., ii, 269; Aup., vii, 81, pl. 430; 
Gelochelidon anglica Cours, Proc. Phila. Acad. 1862, 536. . . ANGLICA. 
** Bill of an ordinary sternine character. 
7 Occiput slightly crested. Feet black. Size large. (Thalasseus.) 
Caspian Tern. Bill red. Mantle pearly grayish-blue; cap extending 
below the eyes, but the under eyelid white; primaries without any white 
band. In winter, black of the cap chiefly restricted to the occiput; young, 
with the bill dusky and yellowish, the back, wings and tail patched with 
brown or blackish. Much the largest of the terns; length 20 or more; 
wing 15-17; tail 5-6, moderately forked, without narrowed feathers ; bill 
24-22, very stout, ? or more deep at base, 4 wide opposite nostrils ; tarsus 
13-13; middle toe and claw rather less. Arctic America and Europe, S. 
in winter to the Middle States; apparently not abundant in this country. 
Lawre. Ann. Lye. N. Y., 1851, v, 37 ; Cousrs, /. c. 537 (var. imperator), and 
irdesbssex inst. vy, 508; Bemor, pl. 56. . . . . . + »« » GASPIA. 
Royal Tern. Bill orange. Mantle pearly grayish-blue. In winter, bill 
duller colored ; cap mostly restricted to occiput: rump and tail shaded with 
the color of the mantle. Young, with the crown much like that of the adults 
in winter; upper parts without bluish, or this only showing in patches, and 
variously spotted with dusky. Scarcely shorter than the last, owing to 
length of tail, but much less bulky; length 18-20; wing 14-15; tail 6-8, 
deeply forked, with narrowed lateral feathers; tarsus about 14, middle toe 
and claw rather more than less; bill 25-2? (in the young sometimes only 
2+), 4$-§ deep at base, the gonys about 1 long. Atlantic Coast, U. S., to 
New York (Lawrence), abundant southerly ; California? S. cayana Nurr., 
ii, 268; Aup., vii, 76, pl. 429; S. regia GampBet, Proc. Phila. Acad. 1848, 
128; Lawr. in Bp., 859; Thalasseus regius Couns, 1. c. 538. REGIA. 
Elegant Tern. Similar to the last; mantle very pale; under parts rosy- 
tinted in high plumage. Smaller and somewhat differently proportioned ; 
bill much slenderer; tarsus obviously longer than middle toe and claw. 
Length about 17; wing 12-13; tail 6-7; bill 243, under 4 deep at base, the 
gonys about 14 long; tarsus rather over 1; middle toe and claw under 1. 
