266 



Sterna minuta. LITTLE TERN. 



Sterna minuta Linmens, Syst. Nat. 12th ed. i. 1766, 

 p. 228 : S. Europe. 



Sterna minuta Linn. ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 181; 

 Saunderg, Cat. Birds B. M. xxv. 1896, p. 116; id. Manual, 

 2nd ed. 1899, p. 651. 



Minuta very small. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Summer Visitor from 

 the end of April to September or October. Breeding-colonies 

 are met with locally on many parts of our coasts as far 

 north as the Orkney Islands, but it is only a wanderer to the 

 Shetlands. 



General Distribution. The Little Tern breeds on the coasts, 

 rivers, and inland waters of Europe from the Baltic to the 

 Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas, and ranges in Asia 

 to west Siberia, Turkestan, and north-west India. It also 

 nests in north Africa from Morocco to Egypt. In winter 

 it visits the west coast of Africa, ranging south to the Cape, 

 also to Burma, and even Java. It is represented by closely 

 allied races in south-eastern Asia and Australia ; in India 

 and east Africa : and in North America. 



Sterna caspia. CASPIAN TERN. 



Sterna caspia Pallas, Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. pt. i. 1770, 

 p 582 : Caspian sea. 



Sterna caspia Pall. ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 182 ; Saunders, 



Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 641. 

 Hydroprogne caspia Saunders, Cat. Birds B. M. xxv. 1896, 



p. 32. 

 Ca2>za:=from the Caspian sea. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Rare Visitor, chiefly 

 to the east and south coasts of England. About twenty have 

 been obtained, including two in Nottinghamshire, and others 

 have been observed. 



