380 LAEID^E 



secured, chiefly from the south and east of England, and 

 nearly always in spring and summer. The Gull-billed Tern 

 has been recorded from the following counties : Norfolk, 1 

 Kent, Sussex, Hants, Devon, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles, 

 while a few birds travelling further north, have been taken 

 in Yorkshire and in Lancashire. 



As yet this species has not been substantially recorded 

 from either Scotland or Ireland. The bird mentioned in the 

 ' Zoologist ' for 1887 (p. 433), as a Gull-billed Tern (Sterna 

 anglica] shot in Belfast Lough, was afterwards examined 

 by Mr. Howard Saunders, and proved to be an immature 

 male Arctic Tern. 



Flight. The " flight is graceful but not very rapid, the 

 long wings being plied with steady, measured strokes " 

 (Saunders). 



Food. This species takes its food by pursuing insects on 

 the wing, pouncing on beetles and grasshoppers, while in 

 the vicinity of water it picks up small fish, shrimps, and 

 crabs. 



Voice. The breeding-note resembles the syllables che-dh; 

 the ordinary cry of alarm sounds like af-af-af (Saunders). 



Nest. The nest is usually scraped out in sandy soil, and 

 is but a shallow hollow, lined with bits of dry seaweeds and 

 grasses. The eggs, three of which constitute the clutch, 

 vary in ground-colour from buff to greenish, and are 

 blotched with different shades of brown. 



Geographical distribution. The Gull-billed Tern breeds 

 in many countries of Southern Europe, from Spain east- 

 ward to the Black Sea, also in Denmark. It nests over 

 a wide area in Temperate Asia, North Africa, North and 

 Central America, including the West Indies. On migration 

 in autumn it wanders to the southern limits of Asia and 

 America, in the latter country to lat. 48 S. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head and back 

 of neck, jet-black ; back, scapulars, and wings, ' pearl ' grey ; 



1 In the * Zoologist ' for 1901, p. 105, Mr. Patterson, writing on the 

 ' Birds of Great Yarmouth,' states, that of ten examples of Gull-billed 

 Terns recorded from Norfolk, nine were obtained on Breydon, the 

 earliest of which was captured on April 14th, 1849, the most recent on 

 September 5th, 1896. 



