SOOTY TERN 



75. Sterna fuscata. 17 in. 



Adult in summer. Above sooty -black, except the 

 vhite outer tail feathers. Crown, line through the eye, 

 >ill and feet, black; forehead and underparts white; eye 

 red. Young birds are smoky slate color all over, with 

 the tail feathers, and some on the back and breast, tipped 

 vith whitish. This is the " egg bird " of tropical coun- 

 ;ries, thousands of their eggs being taken for food. 



Note. A nasal " ker-wacky-wak " (Chapman). 



Nest. A single egg deposited in a hollow in the sand; 

 it is creamy-white, spotted with blackish-brown. 



Range. Tropical countries: breeds north to the Flor- 

 ida Keys and islands in the Gulf of Mexico; sometimes 

 wanders north to New England. 



BRIDLED TERN 



76. Sterna ancetheta. 15 in. 



^^m Similar to the last, but the back and wings much 

 I lighter, and the white of the forehead extends over the 

 eyes; nape whitish. 

 * Range. Breeds north to the Bahamas. 



