BLACK-AND-GRAY BIRDS. 17 



blackish, but white near the tail ; bill black ; legs 

 and feet reddish-brown. Bird of passage. 



The Black Tern, formerly breeding plentifully in 

 England, is now only a bird of passage on the east 

 coast at the seasons of migration, but in rough 

 weather it may be driven inshore and appear on 

 inland waters. Although fairly regular in its visits, 

 it comes only in small numbers. In form it differs 

 from the commonly known white Terns in its shorter 

 and only slightly forked tail. The wings, however, 

 are long, and are used with the measured stroke which 

 gives to the flight of all Terns a wavering buoyancy, 

 as if the body of the bird were too light for the 

 length of wing and the depth of the wing-beat. In 

 the Black Tern the under sides of the sharply bent 

 wings show pale gray, which distinguishes it from 

 other dark Terns which are rare stragglers to our 

 shores ; there is also a clear white tract below 

 next to the root of the tail. This bird dives from 

 the wing for surface fish as described under the 

 Common Tern, but its diet includes also worms and 

 larger insects. There is no generally hlachish bird 

 that dives from the wing save the Black Tern. 



NOTE TO 'BLACK-AND-GRAY BIRDS.' 



JACKDAW. — Should the Jackdaw — a black bird like a 

 smallish Rook — be sought here because of its gray nape, refer 

 to ' Black Birds,' the gray nape being more likely to be missed 

 than observed by a beginnei'. 



