WATER BIRDS 283 



are the scavengers of the water, feeding from the surface. Gulls 

 are at home in the open seas. 



Terns are littoral (Fig. 231). They are more slender and active than the 

 gulls, and have long forked tails and pointed bills. They nest in colonies, 

 coming from the South in May and remaining until September. When 

 in search of food the terns fly with the bill downward, while gulls carry the 

 bill in a line with the body. Terns nest in colonies on islands. The nest 





Fig. 231. Terns in Southwest Harbor Key in Breton Island Reservation. 

 (Year-book U. S. Dept. Agricul., 1905. Photo by Frank M. Miller.) 



is made of a few wisps of grass. The eggs, two or three in number, are 

 laid in a depression in the sand or pebbles. The young of both gulls and 

 terns are precocial. When frightened, both gulls and terns squat low 

 near the ground and remain motionless until actually touched. 



Order III. Tubina'res are so called because the nostrils are 

 carried well forward through the two round tubes that lie either 

 along the top or the sides of the bill. The opening of the nostril 



