THE LITTLE TERN 341 



part of the British coast. Its length is fifteen 

 inches. 



As its name implies, the common tern is the 

 variety most frequently met with in Britain ; but 

 it is by no means the least beautiful of the terns. 

 It measures in length fourteen inches. The bill 

 and legs are orange-red, the bill nearly black at 

 the tip ; the head and nape black ; the back, or 

 ' mantle,' pearl-gray ; rump white ; tail white and 

 gray ; under parts whitish. 



The little tern is the smallest of the terns, 

 measuring but eight and a half inches in length. 

 It neither breeds largely nor very far North in 

 Britain (as far as Aberdeenshire). It is chiefly a 

 summer visitant, arriving in May and leaving in 

 September or early in October, frequenting the 

 low-lying shores from Kent to the mouth of the 

 H umber on the Eastern Coast, and from Cornwall 

 to Lancashire on the Western coast, of England. 

 Its plumage in summer is thus described by 

 Saunders : ' Bill orange-yellow, tipped with black ; 

 forehead white . . . crown and nape black ; mantle 

 pearl-gray ; wing-feathers gray . . . tail and under 

 parts white ; legs and feet orange.' 



Of the Larinae (the gulls), no fewer than fifteen 

 varieties are included in the list of British birds, 

 viz. : 



1. Sabine's gull. 



2. The wedge-tailed gull 



3. The little gull. 



4. Bonaparte's gull. 



