Gavice 223 



localities as far as the northernmost of the Orkney 

 Islands. Besides this, it has been known to nest in 

 more southern places and in Ireland, and it is hoped 

 that many of the colonies will be permanent, though the 

 bird is apt to change its quarters for no very apparent 

 reason. Abroad it ranges from Holland and Denmark 

 to the Caspian Sea, as well as from north Carolina to 

 Mexico and Honduras in the western hemisphere, 

 though the American form is slightly different. It 

 is also known to breed in Spain, some of the Medi- 

 terranean Islands, Tunisia, and the eastern Canaries. 

 The colour is grey above and pinkish white below, the 

 crown, nape, legs, and bill being black, with a yellow tip 

 to the bill. Two eggs of a whitish or buff colour, with 

 black, grey, or red-brown spots and blotches, are usually 

 laid on a sandy shore, but sometimes among short 

 grass or sea-plants on an island. 



The Roseate Tern (S. dougalli) still breeds off the 

 shores of Anglesea, in Ireland, on the Fame Islands, 

 and in the Moray Firth, while a few pairs may do so 

 even in East Anglia, the Scilly Islands, and elsewhere, 

 though they are supposed to have left those parts. It 

 is found in summer from western France to the Mediter- 

 ranean, from New England to Venezuela, in the Azores 

 and Madeira, and down the Indian Ocean, while it also 

 nests in Madagascar, Ceylon, the Andaman Islands, and 

 so to south China and Australia. But for the exact 

 localities the reader must consult the pages of one of 

 the larger works on birds. Grey above with a black 

 head, as in the case of its congeners, the lower parts 

 in life are of a beautiful pink colour, which fades con- 

 siderably after death ; the bill is black, the feet red. The 

 two or three eggs, laid on sand or rock, resemble those 



