56 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



the wing ; outer webs of several tail feathers, dusky ; bill, blackish or dusky red, 

 with yellow on the under mandible; feet, dull orange, smaller than hirwulf>, 

 but tail much longer. Length, 14-17; wing, 10-12; tail, 5-8; bill, 1.20-1.40. 



HAB. Northern hemisphere; in North America breeding from Massa- 

 chusetts to the Arctic regions, and wintering southward to Virginia and 

 California. 



Eggs, two or three ; laid on the bare rock or sand ; drab, spotted and dashed 

 with brown of different shades, indistinguishable from those of the common 

 tern. 



For several reasons the terns which visit Ontario are less known 

 than birds belonging to other classes. They are not sought after by 

 sportsmen, and at present the number of collectors is so few that the 

 sea swallows (as they are here called) are little molested. There are 

 several species, such as the Common Tern, Forster's Tern, and the one 

 we are now considering, which resemble each other so closely that 

 the difference can only be made out on careful examination by one 

 who is familiar with their appearance. Compared with the Common 

 Tern, the present species is a bird of more slender make, the tail 

 feathers being usually much longer, and the under parts of a much 

 darker shade. 



In the spring and fall flocks of terns resembling each other in 

 general appearance are seen frequenting Hamilton Bay and the inlets 

 along the shores of Lake Ontario. Considering the range of this 

 species, it is likely that it is here with the others, but among the few 

 which I have killed I have not 'found an Arctic. 



In the collection of birds brought together under the direction of 

 the late Prof. Hincks, and sent to the Paris Exposition in 1867, a 

 pair of Arctic Terns was included which were said to have been 

 procured near Toronto. 



The species is of circumpolar distribution. Dr. Bell found it on 

 Hudson's Bay, and it occurs on the coast of California, but is not 

 named among the birds of Manitoba, being perhaps strictly maritime 

 in its haunts. 



Around the shores of Great Britain it is the most abundant of its 

 class, and here, too, it is remarked that it does not occur inland. 



Mr. Gray, in his " Birds of the West of Scotland," says regarding 

 it : " On the western shores of Ross, Inverness and Argyleshire, there 

 are numerous breeding places for this bird, especially 011 the rocky 

 islands in the sea-lochs stretching inland, such as Loch Suiiart, Loch 

 Alsh and Loch Etive. These nurseries are equally numerous off the 

 coast of Mull, and others of the larger islands forming the Inner 

 Hebrides." 



