54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
72. The Roseate Tern. 
Sterna dougalli MONTAG. i813. 
Rare on the coast of Nova Scotia. (Dowmns.) Recorded on the 
authority of Col. Thomas Egan, who assures me a specimen was 
lately obtained and is now in the possession of Mr. John Rowe, of 
Halifax, N.S. (/ones.) Not uncommon, and breeding on Sable 
Island, N.S., August, 1899. 
MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 
Two skins taken on Sable Island, N.S., August 12th, 1899, by the 
writer. 
73. Aleutian Tern. 
Sterna aleutica BAIRD. 1869. 
The Aleutian Tern arrives at St. Michael, Norton Sound, by 
June Ist and remains until the latter part of August. It is very 
abundant in the vicinity, breeding plentifully on a small island 
just at the northern end of the “canal.” (Zurner.) These birds 
extend their range to the head of Norton Bay and reach the 
Siberian coast at Behring Strait. They undoubtedly winter in 
the vicinity of Kadiak Island and the coast of the Northern 
Pacific adjacent thereto. (/Ve/son.) 
BREEDING Notes.—The Arctic Tern is so intimately associated 
with the Aleutian Tern, both in nesting habits and procuring food, 
that the remarks for the one will apply to the other. Their 
nests are sometimes placed within two feet of each other, and 
apparently without causing animosity between the species. 
(Zurner.) This species is strictly limited to the sea-coast, and 
breeds upon small dry islands along the coast. The birds reach St. 
Michael from May 2oth to 30th and are found scattered along 
the coast in company with the Arctic Tern for a short time, but 
early in June they gather about the islands where they nest. One 
of these islands is about a mile from St. Michael, in the mouth 
of a tide-channel known as the “canal.” This island is about half 
a mile across, rises about thirty feet from the beach in a sharp 
incline, and has a rather level top covered with a thick mat of 
grass, moss and other vegetation. The upland is dry, and here 
the birds breed, laying their eggs directly upon the moss, with 
