234 STERNIN^E STERNA. 



with the forehead and lower parts white; a biack band be- 

 fore the eyes, and a greyish-black patch on each side of the 

 breast ; upper and hind parts of the head black ; back and 

 scapulars brown, lunated with reddish-white. 



Male, 9, 24, 8|, 1^, T ^, ^, T \. 



This species, not very aptly named, arrives in the south- 

 eastern marshy parts of England about the beginning of May, 

 and departs in September. It frequents fresh-water ponds, 

 marshes, and rivers, feeding on small fishes, insects, and rep- 

 tiles, and is remarkable for its great agility, and peculiarly 

 gliding flight. It is very seldom seen in any other part of 

 England, and has not been met with in Scotland. On the 

 Continent it is said to be plentiful in marshy places of great 

 extent, and in America it is abundant along the Mississippi 

 and other rivers, always preferring fresh water to the shores 

 of the sea. The nest is placed among the herbage, and con- 

 tains three or four eggs, an inch and four-twelfths in length, 

 and similar in colouring to those of the Common and Arctic 

 Terns. The mere shortness of the tail in this species is not 

 enough to sanction its being placed in a separate genus. 



Sterna nigra and fissipes, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 227- Sterna 

 nigra, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 810. Sterna nigra, Temm. Man. 

 d'Ornith. ii. 749. Sterna nigra, Black-breasted Tern, Mac- 

 Gillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



295. STERNA MINUTA. LITTLE TERN. 



Bill about the same length as the head, slender, orange- 

 yellow, with the end black, but the extreme tips yellowish- 

 grey ; feet light orange-red ; wings an inch longer than the 

 tail, which is deeply forked. Forehead white, that colour 

 extending laterally to above each eye ; upper part of head, 

 nape, and loral spaces deep black ; sides of head, fore-neck, 

 and lower parts pure white ; back and wings very pale bluish- 

 grey ; tail bluish-white, outer two quills, with the outer web 

 and part of the inner, hoary black. Young with the forehead 

 yellowish-white ; upper part of the head and occiput brown, 

 spotted with blackish ; a black spot before the eyes, another 

 on the ear-coverts ; back and wings yellowish-brown; quills 

 and tail-feathers tipped with yellowish-white. 



Male, 9, 20, 6*, T ? , T v, &, A. Female, 8*, 19. 



The Little Tern visits oar shores early in May, and, al- 

 though not very numerous anywhere, is met with along both 

 the eastern and western coasts of England and Scotland. It 

 is not very uncommon in summer on the sands from Aber- 

 deen to Ythan, in one part of which is a breeding place, fre- 



