BIRDS OF NEW YORK I45 



boring military station. This tern formerly bred on the Canadian shore of 

 Lake Erie, not far from Buffalo, and at Presque Isle, Erie, Pa., but now is 

 not known to nest on the Great Lakes nearer than the Chicken islands, Put- 

 in-Bay, western Lake Erie. In the interior of this State this bird is a fairly 

 common transient visitant, especially on the Great Lakes, but is not known 

 to breed within our limits except on the seacoast, where it was an abundant 

 summer resident in Giraud's day. It is a bird of holarctic range, in 

 America breeding from the Gulf coast to Greenland. 



Migration. The Common tem according to Giraud arrives from the 

 South b}' the middle of April and departs late in the fall; Mr Butcher's 

 dates range from May 9 to October 15. In western New York it is most 

 often seen in early June, and from August 8th to September 25th, although 

 I have seen it as early as May 5th on Canandaigua lake and as late as October 

 9th. It has been reported from Lake Erie on the 15th of April, but I am 

 inclined to think that is exceptionally early for this species in the interior. 

 Mr Todd's earliest record for Erie, Pa., is April 26. 



Habits. The tem, or Sea swallow, is often seen standing on spiles, 

 Tocks, or floating debris, but less often swimming on the water than the 

 gulls. Like gulls it spends a large portion of its time flying back and 

 forth over the water looking for the small fish and the aquatic insects which 

 are its principal food. When flying, terns carrj' the bill inclined downward, 

 instead of pointing forward in the axis of the body, as is the habit of gulls. 

 They nest in large colonies and near such resorts the air is often filled with 

 their graceftil fomis. When the colony is invaded the birds raise a great 

 uproar and dart about the intruder. Their scream is a harsh tcarr, tcarr. 



Nesting. Their eggs are laid in a mere depression in the sand or rubbish 

 near the shore, or on a nest of grass or seaweed, sometimes among the 

 growing grass. They are from two to four in number, usually three, of a 

 bufE or pale brown color shaded with olive, thickly spotted with chocolate 

 or blackish and obscure lilac. Dimensions average 1.6 by 1.22 inches. The 

 nestlings are grayish buff mottled with dusky. The eggs of the Forster, 

 Common, Arctic and Roseate terns are practically indistinguishable. 



