562 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



365. Arctic Tern [ARKTISCHE SEESCHWALBE]. 

 STERNA MACRURA, Naumann. 



Heligolandish : Koad-nabbed Kerr = Bed-billed Tern. 

 Sterna macnira. Naumann, x. 114. 



Arctic Tern. Dresser, viii. 255. 



Hirondelle de mer arctiq^le. Temminck, Manuel, ii. 742, iv. 458. 



This Tern never arrives here before the first half of May, when 

 it may be seen in fairly large numbers, mingling with 8. cantiaca ; 

 and swarming round about the dune. In August, old and young 

 birds again appear in considerable numbers on the return passage 

 from their northern homes, the former of these still displaying 

 the black markings of the head in their original purity. Its 

 homes lie farther north than those of any other of its congeners, 

 the breeding range extending from the Hebrides and Shetland 

 Islands across Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, along the whole 

 Arctic coasts of Asia, and through Arctic America. Captain 

 Feilden met it breeding on Ballot Island in 81 44' N. lat. 



366. Common Tern [FLUSSSEESCHWALBE]. 

 STERNA HIRUNDO, Linn. 1 



Heligolandish : Road-fatted Kerr= Red-footed Tern. 



Sterna hirundo. Naumann, x. 89. 



Common Tern. Dresser, viii. 263. 



Hirondelle de mer Pierre Garin. Temminck, Manuel, ii. 740, iv. 458. 



Next to Sterna cantiaca, this species is the commonest of the 

 Terns met with on this island. It arrives nearly at the same time 

 as the Sandwich Tern, or perhaps a little later, but certainly never 

 earlier. Its fishing-grounds, also, are quite close to the sand-island, 

 where, like 8. cantiaca, it may be seen swooping down after Sand- 

 eels, amid much shrill noise. It may be seen there throughout the 

 whole summer ; most numerously, however, after the completion of 

 the breeding season, when the old and young birds fish in company. 



This widely-distributed species breeds on the coasts of the 

 Atlantic Ocean, from England to the Canaries, and from Bermuda 

 to Labrador. It also nests along the coasts of the North Sea, the 

 Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caspian, and as far as Lake Baikal 

 and China. 



1 Sterna fluviatilis, Naumann. 



