KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 



199 



Gexus HYDR0CHELE)0N Boie. 



HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SURINAMENSIS (Gjncl.) 

 Black Tern. 



Adult in suiiiiiier : Upper parts slaty gray ; head 

 and under parts black (except under tail coverts) ; bill 

 ■'*' *^^^^, ' ^"*^ fs^t black. Adjilt in winter : head white, with 



a black patch streaked with white on the occiput; 

 upper parts gray. Inunatnrc : upper parts mottled 

 with buff or pale brown ; sides ashy. 



Length. 9.50 ; Wing, 8.30 ; Tail, 3.60 : Tarsus, .70 ; 

 Bill, 1. 10. 



The Black Tern occurs on the Athmtic 

 coast from Florida to Prince Edward's Is- 

 land, and on the west coast from Alaska 

 to Chile. It breeds from the middle United States northward. The eggs 

 are olive brown blotched with pale brown and chocolate brown. 



Genus ANOUS Stephens. 



AN0U5 STOLIDUS (Lin?i.). 

 Noddy Tern. 



Adult in summer : Bill black; forehead white, 

 shading into gray on the occiput; lower eyelid 

 white : front of the eye, and narrow superciliary line 

 blackish ; general plumage rich olive brown ; 



primaries dark brown, the first having the inner 

 web pale brown ; legs and feet black. The imma- 

 ture birds have the head grayish brown, wliitish on 

 the forehead. 



Length, 15; Wing, 10; Tail, 5.75; Tarsus, .80: 

 Bill, 1.70. 

 Tlie Noddy Tern is a summer visitant to our Southern shores, and breeds 

 in Florida on some of the Southern keys. It is abundant in the Bahama 

 Islands and breeds there in June in great numbers. Onl}^ one ^gg is usually 

 laid : but I have found two in a nest on several occasions. The nest, which 

 is constructed of sticks and grass, is built ( on the Maraporvos Islands, 

 Bahamas, ) upon tlie low cactus plants which cover the islands. Occasionally 

 an egg was found in a depression of the rock without any nest. The eggs 

 are buff white marked with reddish brown. 



