BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 45 
Nest: Made of flags or marsh vegetation ; lined with weeds; in wet 
marshy place, or floating among rushes. 
Eggs: 2 or 3; from pure white to pale green or brown-gray, irregularly 
spotted with several shades of brown and purple. Size 1.85 X 1.35. 
Dr. BREWER calls this species “ pre-eminently a marsh 
tern,” and says that its monotonous cry closely resembles 
the call note of a loggerhead shrike. It is found nest- 
ing in colonies in company with gull-billed terns and 
Bonaparte gulls in suitable localities throughout its 
breeding range, but chiefly on large lakes in the interior. 
Its food consists of minnows, insects, and refuse floating 
on the water. 
74. LEAST TERN. — Sterna antillarum. 
Famity: The Gulls and Terns. 
Length : 8.50-9.75. 
Adults in Summer : Upper parts pearl-gray ; under parts white ; fore- 
head white; crown, lores, and nape jet black; bill yellow, usually 
tipped with black ; feet orange. 
Adults in Winter ; Similar, but lores and crown white ; nape black ; bill 
black. 
Young : Similar to winter adults, but upper parts mottled with blackish 
and buffy. 
Downy Young: Upper parts pale buffy gray, finely mottled with dusky ; 
head distinctly marked with irregular black speckles; under parts 
white. 
Geographical Distribution : Northern South America, north to California, 
Minnesota, New England, and casually to Labrador. 
Breeding Range: Breeds locally nearly throughout its range. In Cali- 
fornia as far north as Ballona Beach, Los Angeles County. 
Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to July 15. 
Nest : Scarcely perceptible hollow in the bare sand of the beach ; unlined. 
Eggs: 2 or 3; greenish gray, spotted with light and dark brown, and 
light purple. Occasionally these markings form a wreath at the 
larger end. Size 1.25 X 0.95. 
SeA Swauyow and Little Striker are the common 
names applied to this little tern, although sea swallow 
