BIRDS OF NEW YORK I49 



Sterna fuscata Linnaeus 



Sooty Tern 



Plate 7 



Sterna fuscata Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1766. Ed. 12. 1:228 

 A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 75 



fuscd'ta, Lat., dusky 



Description. Adiilt: Lores, crown and upper parts black, deepest on 

 the top and back of the head; forehead, extending over the eye, white; 

 outer tail feathers mostly white; under parts white; bill and feet black. 

 Iinniatiirc: Sooty brown, dark above, but fading to grayish on the belly; 

 the lining of the wings, scapulars and tail coverts tipped with white, giving 

 the bird a "peculiar spotty appearance." 



Length 15-17 inches; extent 34; wing 12; tail 7.5, forked 3-3.5; bill 

 1.8, depth .5; gape 2.5; tarsus i; middle toe and claw 1.2. 



The Sooty tern, a bird of general distribution in tropical regions, is 

 an accidental visitant on the coastal and inland waters of New York. In 

 the years, 1876 and 1878, there was a marked invasion of these terns in 

 New York and New England. Ten or more specimens have been recorded 

 from New England. New York records are as follows: 



Oswego, N. Y. "About 1875." D. D. Stone 



Lake Champlain, N. Y. Sept. 6, 1876. Merriam, Auk, i: 59 



Owasco Lake, N. Y. Sept. 20, 1876. Fowler, Forest and Stream, 7: 230; X. O. C. 



BuL, 2: 76 

 Lake Ronkonkoma, L. I. Sept. 13, 1878. Dutcher, Auk, 3: 433 

 Highland Falls, N. Y. Sept. 13, 14, 187S. Meams, Es. Inst. Bui., 12: 87 

 Montauk, N. Y. Sept. 18, 1883. (W. W. Worthington). Dutcher Collection, 1355 



Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis (Gmelin) 

 Black Tern 



Plato 8 



Sterna surinamensis Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1788. Ed. i. 2 : 604 

 Sterna nigra DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 300, fig. 278, 278a 

 Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 

 1895. No. 77 



liy'ilrochelJ'Jon, Or. i'&wp, water, and xf-^-'Siui', swallow; nt'gra, Lat., black; 

 snritiaiiw'nsis, of Surinam, Dutch Guiana 



Description. Adult iit snuinicr: Head, neck, breast and belly, black; 

 back, wings, and tail dark j)lumbeous or slate-color; primaries grayish 



