168 TERNS 



White-throated Sparrow, and a tue, tue, tue y uttered by a bird in pur- 

 suit of another. The young are fed on fish which they take from the 

 bill of the parent. They promptly and instinctively squat at the parent's 

 warning note and remain motionless until touched. They enter the 

 water of their own volition and swim freely, while the parents, which 

 rarely swim, stand on the shore and watch them; webbed feet, therefore, 

 apparently being of use to young Terns although practically function- 

 less in the adult. 



Thanks to the movement for the protection of our birds, Terns, 

 which fifteen years ago seemed to be doomed to extinction, are now 

 increasing, and there is reason to hope that our shores may again be 

 enlivened by these beautiful, graceful creatures. 



1879. BREWSTER, WM., Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club. IV, 13-22 (habits). 

 1895-99. MACKAY, G. H., Auk, XIII, 32-48, 178; XIV, 21, 22, 278-284, 

 383-390; XVI, 168-172; XVII, 259-266 (on Muskeget and Penikese Islands, 

 Mass.) 1900. CHAPMAN, F. M., Bird Studies with a Camera, 106-127. 

 1902. JONES, L., Wilson Bull., XV, 94-100. 1906. XVIII, 35-47 (on 

 Weepeckets). 



71. Sterna paradisaea Brunn. ARCTIC TERN. Very similar in color 

 to the Common Tern, from which it differs in having less gray on the shaft 

 part of the inner web of the outer primaries (Fig. 79, d) ; in having the tail 

 somewhat longer, the tarsi and bill shorter, while the latter, in the adult, 

 is generally without a black tip. L., 15'50; W., 10'25; T., 7'50; Tar., '65; 

 B., 1'30. 



Range. Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds from n. Alaska, Melville Island, 

 and n. Greenland, s. to Commander and Aleutian Islands, n. B. C., Great 

 Slave Lake, cen. Keewatin, Maine, and (formerly) Mass., and in entire 

 Arctic regions of Europe and Asia; winters in Antarctic Ocean, s. to lat. 

 74; in migration, Pacific coast s. to s. Calif., and Atlantic coast s. to L. i.; 

 accidental in Colo. 



Long Island, one record, July 1. 



Nest, as in preceding. Eggs, 3-4, not distinguishable with certainty from 

 those of the preceding, T62 x 1'15. Date, Seal Is., Maine, June 17, 1875. 



Comparing the notes of this bird with those of the Common Tern, 

 Mr. Brewster writes: "Their notes are similar, but several of them can 

 be distinguished. The usual cry of S. macrura [ = paradiscea] cor- 

 responds to the tearr of S. hirundo, but is shriller, ending in a rising 

 inflection, and sounding very like the squeal of a pig. The bird also 

 has a short, harsh note similar to that of Forster's Tern. At any dis- 

 tance within fair gun-range I could usually separate it from Wilson's 

 [ = Common] Tern by its longer tail, and by the uniform and deeper 

 color of the bill. In flight and habits the two seemed to me identical" 

 (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XXII, 1883, p. 402). 



72. Sterna dougalli Montag. ROSEATE TERN. Ads. in summer. 

 Top of head black; back and wings pearl-gray; outer web of outer primaries 

 and shaft part of the inner web slaty black (Fig. 79, e}\ underparts white, 

 generally delicately tinted with pinkish; tail pure white; bill black, the base 

 reddish; feet red. Ads. in winter. Similar to the above, but front of the 

 head white, more or less streaked or spotted with black; underparts pure 

 white. Im. , first plumage. "Pileum and nape pale buffy grayish finely 

 mottled or sprinkled with darker, and streaked, especially on the crown, with 



