TERMITES 



5761 



TERRACE 



hatch from the eggs they have long, membra- 

 nous wings, but after one flight into the air, 

 during which the mating takes place, the wings 

 break off at the base, and thereafter the pair 

 are held as captives. In the cell the female 

 undergoes an extraordinary transformation, for 

 her body swells until it is large enough to hold 

 many thousand eggs. As one zoologist has ex- 

 pressed it, she becomes a "loathsome cylindrical 

 package, two or three inches long, in shape like 

 a sausage and as white as a bolster." 



The eggs, deposited at the rate of several 

 thousand a day, are borne away by the blind, 

 wingless workers, which carry them to specially 

 constructed cells and care for the larvae (young) 

 as they are hatched. The workers make clay 

 tunnels along the trunks and branches of trees, 

 bringing back through them gums and decay- 

 ing wood to feed the entire colony, and to them 

 also falls the task of building and enlarging the 

 nest. Another wingless class, the soldiers, have 

 large heads and jaws and strong claws. They 

 are supposed to defend the mound from attack. 

 Soldiers, workers and king and queen develop 

 from the same eggs, but scientists believe that 

 the differences in structure result from the kind 

 of food given the larvae. Termites are very 

 destructive, for they tunnel their way through 



TERNS, turnz, a group of birds which are 

 related to the gulls and are distinguished for 

 their powers of flight. The fifty or more spe- 

 cies are found in all parts of the world, ten be- 

 ing native to North America. They may be 



TERMITES 



(a) Soldier; (b) worker; (c) adult male ; (d) 

 queen. 



the woodwork of houses, destroy books and fur- 

 niture, and do great damage to sugar cane and 

 orange trees. In Central America wooden tele- 

 graph poles cannot be used because of the tun- 

 neling habits of these insects. 

 361 



TERN AND NEST 



seen on seacoasts and along rivers and lakes. 

 Terns have long, pointed bills, webbed feet, 

 and strong, large, pointed wings, which carry 

 them through the air swiftly and for long dis- 

 tances. They seize their prey, which consists 

 of small fish, by darting quickly into the water, 

 bill pointing downward. Great colonies of these 

 birds may be found on islands during the nest- 

 ing season. The nests are usually placed in de- 

 pressions in the ground, but sometimes the eggs 

 are laid on the bare rock. 



The largest species is the Caspian tern, a 

 handsome bird nearly two feet long, with a crest 

 of shining black, and pearl-gray back and wings. 

 The smallest is the least tern, nine inches long. 

 The beautiful common tern, once abundant on 

 the Atlantic coast of North America, has been 

 almost exterminated by egg and plume hunt- 

 ers, but is now protected by law and is again 

 increasing in numbers. This bird has light, 

 pearl-gray plumage, with white tail and throat. 

 It is about fifteen inches in length. Its eggs 

 are three or four in number, varying in color 

 from whitish to brownish, thickly spotted with 

 brown and lavender. Other species are the 

 gull-billed, royal, sooty and black terns. 



TERPSICHORE, turpsik'ore, one of the 

 nine Muses, the patron of dancing, which she 

 is said to have originated. She is represented 

 as a laurel-crowned virgin holding a musical 

 instrument in her hand. See MUSES. 



TERRACE, ter'ays, in physical geography 

 the name for a line of level, elevated land along 

 the shore of a lake or river. Several frequently 

 occur, one above the other, like giant steps. 



