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CASPIAN TEEN. 



Sterna caspica, SELBY. JEXYNS. EYTON. 



" " GOULD. YARKELL. 



Sterna ? Caspica Belonging to the Caspian. 



OF this species, named by Pallas from the region whet-; 

 it was first discovered, the neighbourhood of the Caspian 

 Sea, a few have occurred on the lakes in Switzerland, and 

 others in Germany: the Black Sea is also frequented. It is 

 included among the birds of Saxony, Italy, Holland, and 

 France, and has been found at Corsica, and among the 

 islands of the Grecian Archipelago. 



It has also been observed in Africa, on the west coast, 

 in Egypt, and at the Cape of Good Hope. So too in Asia 

 in India, China, the Sandwich Islands, and the Friendly 

 Islands. 



These Terns breed on the coast of Denmark and Jutland. 



One of these birds occurred at Yarmouth, Norfolk, in 

 October, 1825; one in 1839; a third June the 9th., 1849; 

 and one on the 16th. of July, 1850, when one or two others 

 were said to have been seen. Another, June 12th., 1851; 

 and another in the middle of August, the same year. In 

 the county of Lincoln one was shot at Caythorpe, near 

 Grantham, many miles from the sea, May the 17th., 1853. 

 In Suffolk three or four were also seen, and one of them, 

 obtained near Aldborough. 



They are of migratory habits arriving at the breeding- 

 places in April, and departing in August. They travel, it 

 is said, by day as well as by night. 



Meyer says that the Caspian Tern, when disturbed, flies 

 invariably towards the open sea and disappears, but never 

 seeks its safety by resorting to the land, and thus its 



