TERNS 



61 



72. Sterna dougalli Montag. Roseate Tern. 



Plumage in summer adults : tail pure white, absolutely no gray on outer 

 feathers which is an absolute means of distinction from the two preceding 

 species ; bill black with reddish base ; feet red ; top of head black ; back and 

 wings pearl gray ; below a very delicate pink which readily fades into white 

 in dried skins ; outer webs of primaries black. Plumage in winter adults : 

 differs in that front of head is white streaked with black and the under parts 

 white. Immature plumage : crown and nape buff y grayish streaked with 

 darker ; orbital and atuicular regions dusky blackish ; back and scapulars 

 pale pearl gray with buffy tints here and there and mottled with dusky, each 

 feather having a submarginal U-shaped mark ; tail feathers with outer webs 

 often dark grayish and dusky marked near their ends. Wing 9.00 to 10.00 ; 

 culmen 1.48 ; tarsus 0.85. 



Geog. Dist. — Temperate and tropical regions, breeding on the Atlantic 

 coast of North America north to Massachusetts only and in addition on 

 Sable Island, Nova Scotia ; wintering south of the United States. 



County Records. — Seen at Green Islands, Casco Bay, (Brewster, B. N. 0. C. 

 4, p. 15). Knox ; formerly in summer, now exterminated, (Norton) ; a few 

 seen at Fox Islands in 1899, identification not absolute, (Howe, J. M. O. S. 

 1900, p. 28). Waldo; three seen August 31, 1900, near Islesboro by G. C. 

 Shattuck, (Howe, J. M. O. S. 1901, p. 14). 



While it is probable that this species once nested in limited 

 numbers along the Maine coast, there is no evidence at hand 

 that they may at present be called breeding birds. Their 

 status is better expressed as rare visitors along the coast from 

 spring to fall. Their habits are not very different from those 

 of the tvi^o preceding species with which they are often asso- 

 ciated. The eggs are very similar but a series average lighter 

 in color, the eggs are rather less pointed at the smaller end, 

 the markings somewhat finer, but in most cases it would be 

 quite difficult to distinguish their eggs with certainty unless 

 aided by other data. A set of three taken at Egg Island, 

 Buzzard Bay, Mass., July 12, 1897, from a slight depression 

 in the ground and hidden under wild pea vines, measure 

 1.53x1.09, 1.54x1.10, 1.54x1.09. Another set from the 

 same place measure 1.57 x 1.16, 1.52 x 1.17, 1.57 x 1.18. On 

 this island the Roseate Terns are said to nest exclusively on 

 the upland parts of the island, hiding their eggs under the wild 

 pea vines, while the Common Terns are few in number and 



