BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 43 
it flies toward you may have suggested its name, for it is 
not unlike the black cocked hat and white expanse of 
bosom so characteristic of the portraits of that monarch. 
It is found throughout North America, being rather 
more abundant on the Atlantic than the Pacific coast. 
Its food is small fish, which it procures by diving 
from the air to the surface of the water, not beneath 
it. Swift and graceful in flight, of small and elegant 
form, it seems rather to belong to the terns than to the 
gulls. Its breeding grounds are in the far north, through 
the wooded districts of Alaska and as far south as Mani- 
toba. In November and May these gulls pass through 
California as migrants, a few remaining at San Diego 
Bay throughout December and returning there in 
March. 
65. ROYAL TERN. — Sterna mazima. 
Famity: The Gulls and Terns. 
Length: 18.21. 
Adults in Spring: Top of head and nape glossy black, feathers length- 
ened to form a crest; upper parts pearl-gray, merging to white on 
tail and at back of neck; under parts, including throat and sides of 
neck, pure white ; bill bright orange ; feet black. 
Adults after Breeding Season and in Winter: Similar, but black on head 
and crest mixed with white ; bill pale orange. 
Young: Similar to winter adults, but upper parts more or less mottled 
with dusky brown; tail dusky near tip; crest slightly developed ; 
top of head dusky, mixed with white. 
Downy Young: Like downy young of S. cuspia. 
Geographical Distribution : Tropical America and warmer parts of North 
America, to latitude 40°, casually northward to Massachusetts and the 
Great Lakes. Common coastwise in California at all seasons. 
breeding Range: On Atlantic coast from New Jersey southward; on 
Gulf coast from Texas to Florida; at San Miguel Island on the 
Pacific coast, 
