[304] BIRDS OF OREGON 



white, or tinged with grayish; forehead white, rest of crown streaked with black. 

 Young: similar to young of hirundo, but with breast and throat washed with dull 

 brownish." (Bailey) Downy young: "The downy young of the Arctic Tern may be 

 distinguished from that of any other American tern by the black or dusky frontal 

 space, which includes the lores and extends across the base of the bill. This dark 

 area matches in color the dark-colored throat, which varies from 'dusky drab' to 

 nearly black. The breast is pure white, becoming more grayish posteriorly. The 

 upper parts show at least two distinct color phases, both of which are sometimes 

 found in one brood. In the brown phase the head, back, and wings, vary from 

 'cinnamon' to 'pinkish buff.' In the gray phase these parts are 'pale drab gray' or 

 'pale smoke gray,' shading off gradually into the white or paler color of the under 

 parts. In both phases the head is distinctly spotted and the back is heavily mottled 

 or variegated with 'fuscous' or black; the markings are usually blacker in the 

 brown phase than in the gray." (Bent) Si%e: "Length 14-17, wing 10.00-10.75, 

 bill 1.08-1.40, tail 6.50-8.50, forked for 4-5." (Bailey) Nest: Generally a depression 

 in sand, gravel, or moss, sometimes lined with a few bits of grass. Eggs: z or 3, 

 ground color from olive to dark brown, more or less spotted and blotched with 

 black and brown. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Circumpolar, south on Atlantic Coast to Massachusetts and 

 to southern Quebec, Great Slave Lake, and on Pacific side to Commander and 

 Aleutian Islands and north far into Arctic. Winters in Antarctic Ocean. In Oregon: 

 Casual visitor to coast, probably passing offshore in its southward migration. 



THE ARCTIC TERN, another of the beautiful fork-tailed, medium-sized 

 terns, migrates more or less regularly up and down the Oregon coast, as 

 it is reported regularly from north and south of this territory. It must 

 pass by offshore as a usual thing, and such records as we have from the 

 coast are of casual birds that come in closer. There is a specimen in the 

 University of Oregon collection from Lane County, and Jewett has one 

 in his collection (No. 4349) that was found dead on the beach in Tilla- 

 mook County, August 2.0, 1916. These are the only two Oregon specimens 

 that we know of. There is one record for Multnomah County made by 

 Jewett in August 19021 of a flock of about 40 seen flying over a small 

 island on Government Lake and reported in the Birds of the Portland Area 

 (Jewett and Gabrielson 192.9). Gabrielson, Jewett, and Braly saw a 

 number of birds that were undoubtedly this species off Newport on 

 August 30, 192.9, and Gabrielson saw five or six birds in the mouth of 

 the Columbia River on September 2.9, 1930. These few and scattered 

 records undoubtedly are only indications of the presence of these birds 

 that must sometimes occur on the coast in greater numbers and would 

 be seen more frequently if there were more observers present on the 

 coastal bays. 



Caspian Tern: 



Hydroprogne caspia imperator (Coues) 



DESCRIPTION. "Tail not very deeply forked, the outer feathers pointed, but not 

 much narrowed; bill red, feet black. Breeding plumage: crown and back of head black- 

 mantle light gray; wings darker gray, the outer quills tipped with black," remainder 



