A M ERICA N ORi\ 'I TIIO LOGY 



COMMON TERN. 



{Sterna Hirando.) 



A. O. V. Mo. 70. 



RANGE. 



Found over the whole of North America, but more commonly in the 

 eastern parts, winteriiTg in the South. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Average length, 14,50 inches; extent of wings, 30 inches; length of 

 tail, 6.25 inches. Color: — Back and wings pearl gray, with primaries 

 dusky on the outer webs, and white on the inner; throat white, shad- 

 ing to ashy on the breast; top of head black; tail white, except outer 

 web of outer feathers, which are dusky; bill red, tipped with dusky; 

 eyes brown; legs coral red. \n winter, paler, and the black on the top 

 of the head replaced partly by white. Young: — Similar to winter adult; 

 bill black. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Nest placed on the ground on sandy outlying islands, it is composed 

 of a few pieces of grass in slight hollow in the sand. Eggs three to four 

 in number; ground color varies from greenish white to brown spotted, and 

 blotched with brown and lilac of different shades. 



HABITS. 



This bird, also called the sea 

 swallow, Wilson's tern, and mack- 

 erel gull, is the prettiest and most 

 graceful of all the sea-birds. It 

 frequents low coasts, the borders 

 of lakes and mouths of the large 

 rivers. 



A more striking scene cannot be 

 imagined than a number of these 

 swallows of the sea flitting here 

 and there in sport or in quest of 

 their food which consists princi- 

 pally of small fish. Some are ex- 

 ecuting the most fantastic gam- 

 bols high up in the air; others, 

 seated on the surface of the water, 

 are rocked to and fro by the waves; 

 still others are skimming over the 



surface of the water; suddenly one 

 dips his head beneath the surface 

 with lightning-like rapidity and 

 seizes some luckless fish that hap- 

 pened to be in his path. 



They live together in colonies 

 of hundreds, and often thousands, 

 on a single island, at night roost- 

 ing on the ground near the water. 

 They gather together about sunset 

 for this purpose, although their 

 voices are. to be heard far into the 

 night, and again early in the 

 morning while trimming their 

 feathers for the day. 



Perhaps a visit to their homes 

 will prove interesting. We make 

 the start before daybreak, having 



