NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 37 



63. Gull-billed Tern. Gelochelidon nilotica. 



Range. Found in North America along the Gulf Coast and on the Atlantic 



Coast north to Virginia and casually farther. 



This is one of the largest of the Terns, 

 is 14 inches long, has a short, thick, 

 black bill and a short slightly forked 

 ta ^' t* 16 crown is black, mantle pearly 

 gray, white below. This species is very 

 widely distributed, being found in 

 Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. 

 They are known locally as "Marsh Terns" 

 where they breed in immense numbers on 

 some of the marshes about the Gulf, 

 particularly in Texas. They also breed 

 on many of the islands along the Coast, 

 rarely making any nest, but laying the 

 eggs in a hollow in the sand. They nest 

 most abundantly in the latter part of 

 May. generally laying three eggs. They 

 [Pale greenish buff.J are of a yellowish, grayish or greenish 



buff color and are spotted with brown and lilac. Size 1.80 x 1.30. Data. 



Northhampton Co., Va., May 28, 1882. Three eggs laid on a mass of seaweed 



on marsh above tide water. Collector, T. S. Hayward. 



64. Caspian Tern. Sterna caspia. 



Range. Like the preceding species, this bird is nearly cosmopolitan in its 

 range, in North America breeding from the Gulf Coast and Texas northward 

 to the Arctic Regions. 



This beautiful bird is the largest of the Tern family, being about 22 inches in 

 length, with the tail forked about 1.5 inches. The bill is large, heavy and 

 bright red; the crest, with which this and the next three species are adorned, 

 is black. The mantle is pale 

 pearl and the under parts 



white. These Terns some- ~* , *" ^ * 



times nest in large colonies 

 and then again only a few 

 pairs will be found on an 

 island. In Texas, the breed- 

 ing season commences in 

 May, it being later in the 

 more northern breeding 

 grounds. They may be re- 

 garded as largely eastern 

 birds, as while they are com- 

 mon in the interior of the 

 country, they are rarely found 

 on the Pacific Coa.st. Two or 

 three eggs constitute a com- 

 plete set; these are laid on the [Grayish buff.] 

 sand in a slight hollow scooped out by the birds. They vary from gray to greenish 

 buff, marked with brown and lilac. Size 2.60 x 1.75. Data. -Hat Island, Lake 

 Michigan, July 1, 1898. No nest. Two eggs laid in a hollow in the gravel. 

 Fully a thousand terns nesting on about one acre. Collector, Charles L. Lass. 



