22 ALLEN S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



Immature Birds in Winter. These resemble in colour the 

 winter plumage of the adult, but, according to Mr. Howard 

 Saunders, have the forehead and crown nearly white, a dark 

 grey band on the upper wing- coverts, more grey on the outer 

 webs of the tail-feathers, the under parts white, and the bill 

 and feet nearly black. 



Nestling. Mr. Saunders remarks that there is scarcely any 

 difference between the nestlings of the Arctic and Common 

 Terns, but the former has a tendency to more pronounced 

 black on the throat ; the upper parts have a buffish ground- 

 colour which seems to be very variable in tint. 



Young. Can always be distinguished from the old ones by 

 the sandy-buff bars on the upper surface. The bill is yellow 

 at the base, with the tip horn-colour ; the feet (says Mr. 

 Saunders) are yellow up to October, afterwards browner. The 

 forehead is white, the occiput blackish, the sides of the neck 

 and flanks tinged with buff, and there is a considerable amount 

 of grey on the outer webs of the tail- feathers. 



Range in Great Britain. The breeding range of the Arctic 

 Tern is more northerly than that of the Common Tern, as it 

 nests from the Humber to the Fame Islands northwards 

 along the east coast of Scotland to the Orkneys and the 

 Shetlands, being the only species of Tern which breeds in 

 the latter group of islands. On the west coast of Scotland it 

 breeds as far south as the Isle of Skye, and in former times 

 it was known to do so as far south as Cornwall. In its 

 southern nesting area, however, it seems to be out-numbered 

 by the Common Tern. In Ireland, Mr. R. J. Ussher says it 

 " breeds on islands off the coast, usually in company with the 

 Common Tern, in Donegal, Antrim, Down, Dublin, Wexford, 

 Cork, Kerry, Galway, and Mayo. A few breed on an inland 

 lake, Lough Carra, in Mayo." Along the shores of Great 

 Britain it occurs everywhere on migration, but seldom appears 

 inland. 



Range outside the British Islands. The distribution of the 

 Arctic Tern is thus summed up by Mr. Saunders in the 

 twenty-fifth volume of the " Catalogue of Birds " : " Circum- 

 polar and northern regions of the Old and New Worlds, 



