LEAST TERN 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 97 



One of the daintiest and most confidjng of our sea-birds is the Least 

 Tern. Except where they have been extensively shot or otherwise dis 

 turbed they often exhibit a lack of fear that is astonishing. 



On the North Carolina coast I have frequently seen them light on 

 the beach within fifteen or twenty feet of where I was standing in the 

 open. Their aggression when one approaches their nests is equalled only 

 bv their near relative, the Arctic Tern. 



LEAST THRN FEEDING ITS MATE ON THE NEST 



Photographed by E. H. Forbush on an island off the M.i-s.u hu-i tts Coast 



Forty years ago Least Terns were among the most numerous sea- 

 birds inhabiting the North American continent. Their colonies, situated 

 on islands or points of sandy peninsulas, could be found with great fre- 

 quency as one travelled along our eastern coast from Maine to Texas. 

 They also were found interiorly in some places, especially up the Missis- 

 sippi Rivi-r. and to a limited extent its tributaries. Here the birds bred on 

 small shoals in the rivers. In those days they ranged as far north as 

 Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa. 



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