BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 47 
Adults in Winter: Head, neck, and under parts white ; upper parts 
deep pearl-gray. 
Young: Similar to winter adults, but feathers of back tipped with 
brownish, and sides washed with slaty. 
Downy Young: Upper parts dull dark brown, coarsely mottled with 
black; top of head, throat, and breast plain blackish brown ; side of 
head dull whitish; belly white, washed with dark gray. 
Geographical Distribution: Temperate and tropical America, from 
Alaska to Brazil and Chili. 
Breeding Range: Interior of United States from latitude 39° northward. 
On Pacific coast breeds abundantly in Oregon and California. 
Breeding Season: Approximately, from May 10 to August 1. 
fest: The eggs are laid on a mat of reeds and decaying vegetation float- 
ing among rushes of a marsh, in shallow water ; or occasionally on 
bare ground of a mud flat. 
Eggs: 2 or 3; brownish green, thickly spotted with dark and light 
brown and light purple, mostly about the larger end. Size 1.35 
xX 0.98. 
THE Black Tern has long wings and a 
ee 
short tail which, with its dark coloring, ae 
renders it easily dis- gigi 
AMERICAN 
BLAcK TERN. 
“4s it picks dragon-flies 
Srom the low rushes.”’ 
tinguishable from the 
other species occur- 
ring on the Pa- | 
cific coast. Like Sterna antillarum, 
it is a fly-catcher among the terns, ee 
feeding almost entirely on aquatic insects and dragon- 
flies. It darts and skims over the marshes with the 
