268 ORNITHOLOGY OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



Sterna macrura Naum. 



Sterna macrura Cat. B., xxv. p. 62. 



Sterna hirundinacea Bruce and Wilton, Scot. Geogr. Mag., 1904, p. 128; Pirie and Brown, 

 op. cit., 1905, p. 26. 



In the Antarctic Manual (p. 223) Mr Saunders tells us that there is ample evidence 

 that terns are found in large numbers in the South Polar regions, and even within the 

 Antarctic Circle, and that Webster found terns at the South Shetlands, whence the 

 Dundee whalers brought back specimens which were referable to the well-known South 

 American species Sterna hirundinacea. Mr Saunders then expresses the opinion that 

 it may be reasonably assumed that all the terns found southwards of America are of 

 this form, and this is quite correct so far as the breeding species are concerned. No 

 tern is, however, known to breed within the Antarctic Circle, nor have, I believe, any 

 specimens hitherto been obtained to the south of 66. 



When the Scotia sailed from the South Orkneys she left Sterna hirundinacea 

 behind her. Other terns were met with, often in considerable numbers, and specimens 

 were fortunately obtained in widely scattered portions of the Weddell Sea. These, 

 strange to say, I found to belong to the most northern representative of their genus, 

 namely, to Sterna macrura, the Arctic Tern ! Thus this familiar bird to British 

 ornithologists would seem to have the most extensive latitudinal range to be found 

 among vertebrate animals, since it is now known to occur from 82 N. to 74 1' S. It 

 was doubtless the species seen by McCormick in 76 52' S. in Ross Sea, off Victoria 

 Land, in the 'forties of the last century, and also the bird noted by him in the ice 

 between 65 and 66 S. and 158 W. 



During the Antarctic voyages of the Scotia terns frequently came under notice, and 

 specimens of Sterna macrura were obtained between 64 29' and 72 18' S. latitude 

 and from 12 49' to 35 29' W. longitude. They were often observed in considerable 

 numbers, and are logged for March 5th, 1904, as being seen in thousands in 72 31' S. ; 

 while from the 9th to the 13th of the same month, when off Coats Land, in 74 ]' S., 

 22 0' W., many were seen along with McCormick's Skuas, Giant, Antarctic, and 

 Snowy Petrels, when the Scotia was locked in the pack. 



It seems very remarkable that the far-off ice-fields of the South Polar Ocean should 

 be visited during the northern winter season by this boreal species. That it is only 

 a winter visitor does not admit of doubt, for the bird certainly does not breed there ; 

 nor is any other tern, so far as we know, a native of the Antarctic Continent. During 

 the southern summer (the northern winter) there is an extraordinary abundance of 

 marine life, especially of surface-swimming crustaceans, and so this elegant bird is 

 tempted to seek retreats which can otherwise only be regarded, even in summer, as 

 inhospitable in the extreme. 



The finding of this tern in the seas off the South Polar Continent must be regarded 

 as one of the most important ornithological discoveries made by the Expedition, for. 



