BRITISH BIRDS. 181 



THE COMMON TERN. 



GREAT TERN, KIRMEW, OR SKA SWALLOW. 



(Sterna Hirnndoy Linn. Uirondelle de, mer Pierre 

 Gar in, Temm.) 



MEASURES above fourteen inches in length, thirty 

 in breadth, and weighs more than four ounces. 

 The bill is crimson, tipped with black, and about 

 two inches and a quarter in length: the head is 

 capped with a longish black patch, which extends 

 over the eyes, and ends in a point below the nape 

 of the neck : the throat, cheeks, neck, and the 

 whole of the under parts are white: the tail, which 

 is long, and greatly forked, is also white, except 

 the two outside feathers, which are black on their 

 exterior webs; but in flying, this fork is frequently 

 closed so as to look like a single feather. The 

 upper part of the plumage is of a fine pale lead 

 colour: the quills are of a deeper cast, the outside 

 ones the darkest: the legs and feet red. 



