

 KOSEATE TEEN 389 



Voice. The voice is harsh, and the alarm-note resembles 

 an angry krakc-krake. 



Nest. In some localities this species will associate with 

 colonies of Arctic and Common Terns, breeding on rocky 

 islands, and sandy shores strewn with shingle, seaweeds, and 

 fragments of bent. The eggs, two to three in number, are 

 generally deposited in a slight hollow scooped in the shingle. 

 They show much variation in colour, from yellowish-white 

 to warm buff, blotched with shades of grey and brown. 

 They are on an average longer in shape than those of the 

 Arctic Tern. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, the Roseate Tern 

 nests sparingly in Central Europe, and more plentifully in 

 the South, in Asia as far as the Tropics, in Africa, especially 

 in the Northern Section, and in America to the latitude of 

 the West Indies. On migration it is widely distributed 

 over the Tropical and Southern Seas. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head and back 

 of neck, black ; rest of neck and throat, white ; back, scapu- 

 lars, and wings, pale ' pearl ' or ' french ' grey, darker in 

 shade than in the last species ; primaries, ' pearl ' grey, of a 

 darker shade than the rest of the wing-feathers ; white on 

 the inner margins of primaries, well denned and extending 

 to the tips and even a short distance along the outer web ; 

 rump and tail-feathers, very pale ' pearl ' grey shading to 

 white ; outer webs of long outer tail-feathers, pure white ; 

 fork of tail of considerable length; breast and abdomen, 

 white, suffused with an evanescent delicate ' salmon ' pink. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage, 

 but the outer tail-feathers (streamers) are a little shorter. 



Adult winter, male and female. The forehead is spotted 

 with white, and the pink tint of the breast and the abdomen 

 is very faint. 



Immature, male and female. Forehead streaked with 

 white ; top of head and back of neck, brownish- black ; back 

 and wings, marked with ash-brown. 



BEAK. Almost entirely black except in the breeding- 

 season, when it exhibits an orange colour at the base. 



FEET. Orange-red. 



IRIDES. Blackish-brown. 



