TERNS 253 



The Arctic tern (S. macrura), well known on both sides of the 

 Arctic Tern 



North Atlantic, as well as in the North Pacific, breeds within the 



Arctic Circle and as far south as the Humber and the islands off the south of 

 Ireland, anywhere in fact north of 50° in Europe and 42° in America. A migrant, 

 it appears every year in Chile and Cape Colony and as far south as 66° N. latitude 

 in the Southern Ocean. Its two or three eggs are laid close to the sea, sometimes 

 on the bare rock, but generally in a hole among shingle (occasionally lined with a 

 little grass), and bear so great a resemblance to pebbles that they are only re- 

 cognisable by being alike. In flight this tern appears slower than many of the 

 others, owing to the long sweeping curves it takes, but it nevertheless flies lightly 

 and easily, and occasionally hovers. It may be recognised at a glance by the 

 absence of a black tip to its red beak, as well as by its short red legs. The crown 

 is black, the head grey, and the tail white and grey, while there is a narrow grey 

 band on the inner webs of the primaries. In length the Arctic tern measures about 

 15 inches. 

 Common and The common tern (S. fluviatilis), which has a red beak with a 



Roseate Terns, black tip, is also a shore-bird, breeding in colonies on shingly beaches. 

 Much handsomer is the roseate tern (S. dougalli), which breeds in a few localities 

 in the British Isles, and on some of the islands in the North Sea, as well as in 

 many favourite spots within the temperate and tropical zones, its nests having 

 been found in the Bermudas, the West Indies, Ceylon, the Andamans, New 

 Caledonia, and northern Australia. In the Atlantic it ranges from 57° N. latitude 

 to the Cape of Good Hope. The species is distinguished by the evanescent roseate 

 tinge on the breast and under-parts, as well as by the inner webs of the primaries 

 being white throughout, the very long outer feathers of the tail, the black beak 

 and orange-red legs, and, lastly, by its particularly loud and grating scream. 



Another species, the Sandwich tern (S. cantiaca), nests from the 

 Sandwich Tern. . . *_. ... n ,i ™ i o. -> ,-, /-< 



Orkneys to the Mediterranean and on the Black Sea and the Caspian , 



while on the American coast its breeding-grounds extend from the north of Florida 

 to Honduras. As a migrant, this bird appears on the western side of Central 

 America, but is unknown elsewhere in the Pacific ; in the Atlantic its range 

 includes Cape Colon}^ ; from the Mediterranean it makes its way down the Ked 

 Sea to the Indian Ocean as far south as Natal, and from the Black Sea and 

 Caspian it journeys to the Persian Gulf and the north-west coast of India. It still 

 breeds in the British Isles, though no longer near the Kentish town from which it 

 takes its name, the main settlement being on the Fame Islands, though there are 

 others on both the east and west coasts. This is the largest of the native British 

 terns, and may be known by the yellow-tipped black beak, black legs and fore- 

 head, long white nape-feathers, and the deeply forked white tail. 



The gull-billed tern (S. anqlica) is so distinct from all its rela- 

 Gull-Billed Tern. , . ,,?.,.» \ . \ -,■,-, 



tives that it is frequently assigned to a genus apart, under the 



name of Gelochelidon. Ranging over Europe, Africa, North and South America, 



and Asia, it is nowhere very common, and generally, as in the British Islands, 



known only as a visitor. It nests on the west coast of Denmark, in the 



Mediterranean, in Australia, and on the west shore of the Atlantic from New 



Jersey southwards, and it occurs all down that coast to Argentina, but is not found 



