Terns 



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63. Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica). L. 

 14.5; T. 5.5. Ads., summer. Bill thick, short, black; 

 tail short, forked only 7.5; crown black; above pearl; 

 below white. Ads., winter. Head white, with black 

 patch before and behind eye. Yng. Similar, but above 

 edged with buffy; head and neck streaked with gray- 

 ish. Notes. A high, thin, somewhat reedy tee-tee-tee, 

 sometimes suggesting a weak-voiced katydid. 



Range. Cosmopolitan; breeds in North America from Mexico to 

 Florida and north to Virginia; wanders north rarely to New Bruns- 

 wick; winters from southern Texas southward. 



73. Aleutian Tern (Sterna aleutica). L. 14. T. 

 6.7, forked 3. Ads., summer. Above and below pearl 

 gray, browner below; throat white; crown black; fore- 

 head white; line from bill to eye black. Ads. , -winter. 

 "With rather more white on forehead." (Cat. B. M.) 

 Notes. "A thin, clear, trilling whistle." (Nelson.) 



Range. Alaska from Kadiak to Bering Strait, southwest to Japan. 



74. Least Tern (Sterna antillarurn). L. 9; 1.3.5, 

 forked 1.7. Ads. , summer. R\\\ yellow, black at tip; 

 forehead white-, a black line from bill to eye; crown 

 black; above pearl; below white. Ads. , winter. Crown 

 white; nape black; bill dark; tail shorter. Yng. Sim- 

 ilar to last, but above with buffy or brownish. Notes. 

 "A sharp squeak much like the cry of a very young 

 pig following its mother." 



Range. Western hemisphere; breeds locally from northern South 

 America northward to Massachusetts, Dakota, and southern Cali- 

 fornia; winters south of United States. 



76. Bridled Tern (Sterna awetbetus). L. 15. Ads. 

 Forehead and line over eye white; lores and crown 

 black; nape whitish; back sooty gray or sooty brown; 

 outer tail feathers white, except at tip; inner ones 

 grayish brown. Notes. A soft qua. 



Range. Tropical regions; north In Atlantic to the Bahamas; casual 

 in Florida. 



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