34 BlUDS OF XuKTU Cakolixa 



in South Carolina, and as it foiiiicrly l)i((l in \'ii<iinia, tliorc would ajipoar to be 

 no adequate reason why, if given jiropcr inotcction, this species should not become 

 a sununcr resident on our coast. 



/, 



18. Sterna maxima {Bodd.). Roy.\l Tkrn. 



.t(/.s. ill xprinq. — Top unci l>:ii'k of head shining black, feathers lengthened to form a rrrst; 

 l)aok of neck, underpiu'ts, and tail white; l)ack and winns pearl-gray; inner web of jiriniarie.'!, 

 except at tip, white; outer web, and shaft part of inner web dark, silvery slate-rolor. Adx. nflcr 

 the breeding sensmi and in winter. — Similar, but the top of the heatl streaked with lilaek and 

 white. Im. — Resembling voung of .S. rns/na, but smaller and with the inner half of the inner 

 web of the i)rimaries white" L., 19.00; W., 14.00; T., 7.00; B., 2..50. (Chap., Birds of K. X. A.) 



Ranyc. — Iiree<ls from the A\'e.st Indies to Virginia, winters from Gulf of Mexico to Peru and 

 Africa. 



Range in North Cnrolina. — Coastal region in summer; breeds. 



"Royal Terns were recorded by C'oucs in 1871, and since have apparently been a 

 common .summer resident along our shores, increasing greatly in numbers in recent 

 years as a result of the protection afforded them on their nesting grounds by the 

 warden.s employed by the State Audubon Society. Like most of the species of this 

 family, they breed in colonies. Their eggs, one or two together, are placed among 

 the shells on the bare sand without any semblance of a constrvicted nest other than 

 a slight depression in the earth. The nests are seldom more than 12 or 14 inches 

 apart, and when their owners are breeding it is difficult at a little distance to see 

 the sand, so com])letely is it covered by the birds. 



"Their chief colony on the North Carolina coast is on Royal Shoal Island in 

 Pamlico Sound, about 10 miles from Ocracoke. Here, on June 25, 1907, the writer 

 found the birtls occupying two plats of ground each 40 or 50 feet in width and 

 about 150 feet in length. On approaching one of these groups, the birds arose 

 en masse and hovered in the air, with heads to the wind. 



''Taking my stand to windward of the fieUl of eggs, I at once had the satisfaction 

 of seeing the birds settling at the other end. Soon others liegan alighting nearer. 

 I remained stationary and watched the s]ilendid sight. There were at least two 

 thousand l)irds in the flock, and mily a few minutes elapsed before the majority 

 were stantling on the grouiul over their eggs, many within 12 or 15 feet of me. 

 Never for a moment did their prodigious screamings cease; in fact, their discordant 

 cries continued long after I had gone aboard the Audubon patrol-boat, Dulcher, 

 which lay for the night in the bight of the island. 



"As soon as the young are al)l(> to walk, they leave the nests and travel about 

 the island in flocks. I counted one company of three hundred and forty-one thus 

 engaiii'il. ^\'hen alarmed by my ])resence, they ran along the beach until, being 

 hard i)ressed, they jjlunged unhesitatingly into the water and in a compact mass 

 started toward the 0])en s(>a. The yoimg are su])])hed abimdantl}' with small fish, 

 many of which may l)e jjicked up on tiie rookery. How, among the hundreds of 

 yoimg nnniing at large on the island, the |)arents are able to distinguish their 

 own is one of the many interesting (juestions of natural hi.story as yet but poorly 

 answereil." — Pe.\rson. 



