CRESTED TERN. 431 



sion, very hard. The head and neck were very big 

 in proportion. 



It is mentioned to me as one of the constant fre- 

 quenters of the Pedro Kays. 



Fam.— LARID^. {The Gulls.) 



CRESTED TERN.* 



White Egg-Bird. 



Thalasseus Cayanus. 



Sterna Cayana.^ Gmel. — Aud. pi. 273. 



Tlialasseus Cayanus, BoiE. 



This large and beautiful Tern is the most common 

 species we have in the vicinity of Bluefields. Its 

 powerful beak of a bright orange hue, its pointed 

 occipital crests of black, the pearly tint of its upper, 

 and the satiny lustre of its under parts, constitute it 

 a species of much beauty. In the autumn months 

 we may frequently see this bird fishing. A quarter 

 of a mile from the shore, off Crabpond Point, there is 

 a reef, above which it may be seen almost every day. 

 Quite solitary in his habits, the Crested Tern prefers 

 to fish alone ; and though sometimes two or three 

 may be in view at once, there is no association, no 

 accordance of movement, as in the Pelicans. High 

 above the water, we discern a bird, the snowy white- 



* Length 21 inches, expanse 45, flexure IH, tail 7i, rictus 3-^, tar- 

 sus 1^, middle toe 1-^. Two caeca ^ inch long. 



