14 Brewster on Terns of the New England Coast. 



of Aphrodite 1 Perhaps like her they were evolved from the sea-foara. 

 No sea-foam can be purer than their spotless breasts, and the softest 

 tints of the summer sky are impressed upon their pearly mantles. 

 If ever birds were born of the sea, surely they are these. The del- 

 icate rosy blush of at least one species must have been borrowed 

 from some rare shell. But Science, plodding and realistic, frowns 

 upon such imagery, and her solid columns of facts and figures are 

 resistless. 



Occurring more or less regularly along the coast of New England, 

 we find eleven species of Terns, all of which, with one possible ex- 

 ception {Sterna caspia), are either summer residents or migratoiy 

 during the spring or fall months. Of this number five species may 

 be set down as accidental visitors, which are either blown from their 

 course by adverse winds or wander beyond the usual range. The 

 Royal Tern {Sterna maxima), the Marsh Tern {S. anglica), the 

 Sandwich Tern (*S'. cantiaca), and the Sooty Tern (^S". fidiginosa) are 

 stragglers from the South, while the Forster's Tern {S. forsteri), 

 breeding in the interior well up into the fur countries, probably 

 strikes across to the coast and follows its indentations southward. 

 The last-named sjiecies, though rare, is of perhaps too regular oc- 

 currence to be classed among the accidentals," for one or two speci- 

 mens are reported nearly every season, usually during the month 

 of September. 



The Caspian Tern — all previous statements to the contrary not- 

 withstanding — must be considered a regular visitor every season, 

 and one by no means uncommon. They come down from their 

 northern breeding-grounds during the latter part of September and 

 for several weeks, at least, are to be found in moderate numbers 

 all along our seaboard. I have observed them at variovis points 

 from Ipswich to Nantucket. At the latter place, upon one occa- 

 sion, six individuals wei'e seen fishing in the harbor near the town. 

 As to their wintering within New England limits, I can offer only 

 negative evidence, but that points to the inference that they pass 

 farther south with the appi'oach of severe weather. During the 

 first week of May, 1875, I found them quite numerous at Chatham, 

 Mass. They frequented the sand-bars near the shore, and kept apart 

 from the Herring and Black-backed Gulls, the only other species of 

 Laridae present at the time. The Short-tailed Tern {Hydrochelidon, 

 nigra) can likewise no longer be regarded as a rare or accidental 

 visitor. Their numbers vary considerably in different years, but 



