282 LESSER TERX. 



considerable portion of that part of the inner web 

 nearest to the white shaft, the other part of the 

 inner web white ; the outer webs of the other pri- 

 mary and secondary feathers lighter grey than the 

 inner webs ; chin and throat greyish white ; neck 

 and breast slate-grey, and as dark as the back ; 

 abdomen, thighs and flanks, lead-grey ; under wing 

 and tail-coverts white; legs, toes and membranes 

 red, the membranes deeply indented/' Length to 

 the centre of the fork of the tail, ten inches and a 

 half; to the tip of the longest outside feather, eleven 

 and a half. 



THE LESSER TERN. 

 Sterna minuta. 



PLATE XXII. 



Sterna minuta, Linn. La petite Hirondelle-de-mer, Temm. 

 The Lesser Tern, or Sea Swallow, of British authors. 



THIS beautiful and graceful little bird is in suit- 

 able localities pretty generally distributed around 

 England and the south of Scotland, stretching 

 round in the latter as far as Aberdeen* on the east 

 * Professor Macgillivray. 



