34: HISTORY OF THE 



Sterna antillarum (LESS.). 



LEAST TERN. 

 PLATE II. 



Summer resident; rare. Arrive the last of April to first of 

 May; return in August. 



B. 694. E. 690. C. 801. G. 315. 13. U. 74. 



HABITAT. North America, northward to California and New 

 England, and casually to Labrador; breeding nearly throughout 

 its range; south in winter, on both coasts, into northern South 

 America. 



SP. CHAR. "Smallest of the Terns (wing less than seven inches). Adult, in 

 mmmer: Pileum and nape deep black, the forehead covered by a broad lunule 

 of white extending back laterally to the eyes, the lores being crossed by a black 

 line or narrow stripe extending from the eye to the lateral base of the maxilla, 

 immediately behind the nostril. Entire upper parts, including lower part of 

 the nape, upper tail coverts, and tail, pale pearl gray, deepest on the dorsal re- 

 gion and wings. Two to three outer primaries dusky slate, the inner webs 

 broadly edged with white; remaining quills pearl gray, like the coverts, the edge 

 of the inner webs white. Entire lower parts pure white. Bill bright yellow, 

 usually ( but not always) tipped with black; iris dark brown; legs and feet 

 bright orange yellow. Adult, in winter: Similar, but lores, forehead and crown 

 grayish white (purer white anteriorly), an occipital crescent, and a stripe for- 

 ward from this to and surrounding the eye blackish. Bill dusky; legs and feet 

 dull yellowish. Young, first plumage: Somewhat similar to the winter plumage. 

 but humeral region marked by a wide space of dusky slate, the scapulars and 

 interscapulars with submargiual V or U-shaped marks of dusky, the crown 

 streaked and the occiput mottled with dusky, and the primaries darker than in 

 the adult. Bill dusky, brownish toward the base; feet brownish. l)<><rmj 

 young: Above, grayish white, finely mottled with dusky grayish, the head dis- 

 tinctly marked with irregular clots of dusky black; lower parts entirely immae. 

 ulate white. Bill dull yellow, tipped with dusky; legs and feet clear pale 

 yellow." 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 9.00 19.75 6.70 3.40 .60 1.08 



Female... 8.75 19.25 6.60 3.25 .60 1.08 



These little beauties, the smallest of the family, flit through 

 the air like swallows, darting here and there for an insect, or 

 suddenly stopping to hover, like Hawks or Kingfishers, over a 

 school of minnows or shrimp, ready to drop upon the first that 

 comes to the surface. 



The birds, as a rule, are not timid, and take little or no heed 

 of the approach of an intruder. 



