CASPIAN TERN. 



51 



that now the place is comparatively deserted. In the spring its 

 plumage is so perfect, and its flight so light and graceful, that it 

 attracts notice wherever it appears. In Southern Ontario it is seen 

 only in small numbers, the migratory route being mostly along the 

 .sea coast. 



SUBFAMILY STERNIN^E TERXS. 



GENUS STERNA LINN.EUS. 



SUBGENUS THALASSEUS BOIE. 



STERNA TSCHEGRAYA LEPECH. 



23. Caspian Tern. (64) 



Adidt male: Crown, sides of the head, and hind head, black, glossed with 

 green ; back and wings, light bluish-gray ; the outer primaries, dark bluish-gray 

 on the inner webs ; upper tail coverts and tail grayish-white ; neck and lower 

 parts, pure white ; bill, rich vermilion ; legs and feet, black ; tail, slightly 

 forked. YOHIHJ : Mottled and barred with dull brown. Length, 20 inches. 



HAB. Nearly cosmopolitan; in North America breeding southward to 

 Virginia, Lake Michigan, Nevada and California. 



Eggs, two or three, laid in a hollow in the sand ; pale olive buff, marked 

 with spots of dark brown, and lilac of various shades. 



