246 LESSER TERN. 



middle of which was fastened a small fish for a bait, with limed 

 twigs stuck to the four corners, on which the bird darting was 

 entangled by the wings. But this must have been for mere 

 sport, or for its feathers, the value of the bird being scarcely 

 worth the trouble, as they are generally lean, and the flesh sa- 

 vouring strongly of fish. 



The Lesser Tern is met with in the south of Russia, and about 

 the Black and Caspian sea; also in Siberia about the Irtish.* 

 With the former, it inhabits the shores of England during the 

 summer, where it breeds, and migrates, as it does here, to the 

 south, as the cold of autumn approaches. 



This species is nine and a half inches long, and twenty in- 

 ches in extent; bill bright reddish yellow; nostril pervious; low- 

 er mandible angular; front white, reaching in two narrow points 

 over the eye; crown, band through the eye, and hind-head, 

 black, tapering to a point as it descends; cheeks, sides of the 

 neck, and whole lower parts, of the most rich and glossy white, 

 like the brightest satin; upper parts of the back and wings a pale 

 glossy ash or light lead colour; the outer edges of the three ex- 

 terior primaries black, their inner edges white; tail pale ash, 

 but darker than the back, and forked, the two outer feathers an 

 inch longer, tapering to a point; legs and feet reddish yellow; 

 webbed feet, claws and hind toe, exactly formed like those of 

 the preceding. The female nearly resembles the male, with 

 the exception of having the two exterior tail feathers shorter. 



* Pennant. 



