CRESTED TERN. 431 



sion, very hard. The head and neck were very big 

 in proportion. 



It is mentioned to me as one of the constant fre- 

 quenters of the Pedro Kays. 



FAM. LARID^E. (The GvUs.) 

 CRESTED TERN.* 



White Egg-Bird. 

 Thalasseus Cayanus. 



Sterna Cayana, GMEL. Aud. pi. 273. 



Thalasseus Cayanus, BOIE. 



THIS large and beautiful Tern is the most common 

 species we have in the vicinity of Bluefields. Its 

 powerful beak of a bright orange hue, its pointed 

 occipital crests of black, the pearly tint of its upper, 

 and the satiny lustre of its under parts, constitute it 

 a species of much beauty. In the autumn months 

 we may frequently see this bird fishing. A quarter 

 of a mile from the shore, off Crabpond Point, there is 

 a reef, above which it may be seen almost every day. 

 Quite solitary in his habits, the Crested Tern prefers 

 to fish alone ; and though sometimes two or three 

 may be in view at once, there is no association, no 

 accordance of movement, as in the Pelicans. High 

 above the water, we discern a bird, the snowy white- 



* Length 21 inches, expanse 45, flexure 14, tail 7|, rictus 3^-, tar- 

 sus 1-j^, middle toe 1^. Two caeca % inch long. 



