STERNA 809 



Hal). The high northern portions of the Old and New 

 Worlds, nesting north to 82 N. lat. or even higher ; in winter 

 passing south to South Africa, South Asia, and South America 

 as far as 66 S. lat. in the Southern Ocean. 



Frequents the sea coasts and islands off the coast, and is 

 noisy but not shy. Its flight is extremely buoyant, easy, 

 and graceful, and it will sometimes alight on the water and 

 swim, and will even dive. It feeds on small fish, shrimps, and 

 crustaceans of various kinds, and its note is recognizable from 

 that of the Common Tern by a practised ear, being a somewhat 

 plaintive keer, keer, or Jcee, kee, kee, or gip, gip, gip, gip, often 

 modulated. It usually breeds close to the sea, but in some 

 parts on the borders of inland lakes, making no nest, but 

 depositing its 2 or 3 eggs on the sand, shingle, or on dry 

 seaweed or grass ; these, which are usually deposited in June or 

 July, according to latitude, vary in ground-colour from white to 

 stone-grey, pale blue-green and rich greenish, and are spotted 

 and blotched with umber-brown or blackish brown surface- 

 markings and pale purplish shell-blotches ; in size they measure 

 about 1-45 by 111. 



1114. COMMON TERN. 

 STERNA FLUVIATILIS. 



Sterna fluviatilis, Naum, Isis, 1819, pp. 1847-1848 ; Dresser, viii. p. 263, 

 pi. 580 ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 525 ; Saunders, p. 647 ; 

 id. Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxv. p. 54 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 1010 ; Blanf. 

 F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iv. p. 318 ; S. hirundo (partim), Linn. Syst. 

 Nat. i. p. 227 (1766) ; Audub. B. N. Am. pi. 309 ; Naum. x. p. 89, 

 Taf. 252 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 480, pi. cxxxiii. fig. 3 ; Gould, B. of E. 

 v. pi. 417 ; id. B. of Gt. Brit. v. pi. 70 ; Kidgway, p. 43 ; Lilford, 

 vi. p. 17, pi. 8. 



Pierre Garin, French ; G-aivina, AndorJiina do mar, Portug. ; 

 Gavina, Span. ; Rondina di mare, Ital. ; Fluss Meerschwalbe, 

 German ; Vischdiefje, Dutch ; Almindelig-Terne, Dan. ; Makrel- 

 Terne, Norweg. ; Fisktdrna, Swed. ; Kalatirra, Finn. ; Kraslika- 

 rashnaya, Russ. 



$ ad. (England). Differs from S. macrura in having the under parts 

 vinaceous grey, paler, the chin and cheeks white, the dark bands on the 

 inner webs of the primaries wider and darker, and the outermost tail- 

 feathers shorter ; bill coral-red, blackish at the tip ; legs coral-red ; iris 

 dark brown. Culmen 1-5, wing 10'5, tail 5'6, tarsus 0'7 inch. 



Hal. Europe generally, but not ranging so far north as 

 S. macrura ; migrating south down to South Africa in winter ; 



