392 TEN YEARS IN SWEDEN. 



all the under parts white ; length 16 in.; tail 6 in.; 



beak from the gape -2-f- in. ; eye red-brown. 

 Is certainly the commonest tern on all these coasts ; 

 breeds far inland, for instance, on the Wener, and goes up 

 far into Lapland. 



224. S. ARCTICA, L. Kodnabbad Tarna. The Arctic Tern. 



D. F. 



Beak straight, altogether red (in the young it is yel- 

 lowish) ; legs red (in the young orange red) ; tarsus 

 f- in. ; the grey streak on the inner fan of the first 

 primary 2-i- in. from the tip ; in. broad ; sides of tho 

 head and throat pale ash-grey, which colour is even 

 deeper on the breast and under parts, and this will dis- 

 tinguish the arctic from the common tern at all seasons. 

 Head in the summer black ; the wings, mantle, and tail 

 ash-blue, deeper than the breast and belly; tail 

 cleft, a little longer than the closed wings, much re- 

 sembles the last, but is a little slenderer and smaller ; 

 beak from the gape 1-J- in. ; the first primary has less 

 ash-grey, and the tail is lighter grey than in the com- 

 mon tern. 



It is singular that this tern has never yet been met with 

 on the west, or north-west coasts of Scandinavia, although 

 common on the Baltic. Is certainly the commonest of the 

 terns in the heart of Lapland, and is the only species men- 

 tioned by Sommerfeldt in his list of the birds at Yardo, near 

 the North Cape. 



225. S. MINUTA, L. Sma Tarna. The Lesser Tern. D. 



Beak yellow, with black tip ; legs reddish yellow ; 

 tarsus i in. ; the shafts of the two outer wing feathers 

 black ; tail white, 1 in. shorter than the closed wings, 

 and cloven down one-third of its length; head and 

 cheeks black ; mantle, tail, and wings ash-blue ; all the 

 under parts white; forehead white; length 9 in.; tail 

 2 in. ; beak from tho forehead 1 in. 

 Appears to be confined to the very south of Sweden, and 

 no where common. 



