302 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



THE ARCTIC TERN. 

 Sterna arctica. 



Sterna arctica. Temminck, Vol. 2, p. 472. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 354. Sabine, Parry's 

 Voyage. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 414. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 275. 

 Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 7, p. 107, pi. 436. 



Characteristics. Bill moderate, slender, and with the feet red. Crown black : outer web 

 of the first quill black. Tail greatly forked, and just exceeding the 

 wings. Tarsus 0'7. Young, with the nape only darker. Length, 

 14-5. 



Description. Bill compressed, straight, acute, 2"0 along the gape. Tail deeply forked ; 

 the outer feathers four inches longer than the middle pair. 



Color. Bill and feet red ; nails black. Above deep pearl-grey ; beneath of the same 

 color, except the lower tail-coverts, which are whitish. Crown and elongated occipital 

 feathers black, tinged with greenish. Outer quill, and occasionally the next, with the outer 

 webs black. 



Length, 14-0-15-0. 



I have never met with this very distinct northern species in this State, but I have been 

 credibly informed that it occasionally appears here, and the Prince of Canino states that it is 

 not rare in the autumn on the seacoast of the adjoining State of New-Jersey. Breeds from 

 the polar seas to Maine, and occasionally migrates farther south. Ranges from the seventy- 

 fifth to the thirty-eighth parallels, and occurs on both shores of the Atlantic, 



