480 SOOTY TERN. 



HABITS. 



The Least Terns differ somewhat in flight from the larger species, moving with a rai.Ii- 

 er jerking motion which is not very graceful. Their notes are shrill, quite short, and ab- 

 ruptly given, especially when the birds are disturbed. They place the eggs on the naked 

 sand, preferring, as breeding places, sandy beaches which are without a vestige of grass or 

 other vegetation. I procured eggs of the. Least Tern on the Florida Keys, early in May 

 but the^e birds do not nest on our New England coast until about the tenth of July. They 

 are expert at fishing, catching young mackerel and other small fish, and may frequently 

 be seen carrying their prey crosswise in their beaks, as they fly to their breeding grounds. 

 In being solicitous for the safety of their eggs, and in hovering about a dead or wounded 

 companion, they do not differ from other Terns, and may, like them, be decoyed within 

 shooting distance by waving a white handkerchief, at the same time imitating their cries. 



STERNA FULIGINOSA. 

 Sooty Tern. 



Sterna fuliginosa GM., Syst. Nat., I; 1788, 605. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cu. Size, large. Form, slender. Bill, rather slender. COLOR. Adult. Above, black. Lunate spot on top of 

 head, outer welis of the tail and basal half of inner, and under part-*, white. Iris, brown, bill and f'eot, black. Vouny. 

 Brownish throughout, paler beneath, with the feathers more or less edged with white and rufous. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Known by the large size, dark color above, and white lunet on head. Distributed as a constant resident on the Flori- 

 da Keys and Bahamas. Accidental further north. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Florida. Length, 16'00; stretch, 34'CO; wing, 11-50; tr.il, 7-5; bill, 1-62; 

 tarsus, 1-05. Longest specimen, 17'00; greatest extent of wing, 35'00; longest wing, IsJ'OO; tail, 7'50; bill, 1-75; tarsus, 

 MO. Shortest specimen, 15-00; smallest extent of wing, 33-00; shortest wing, ll'OO; tail, 7'00; bill, 1'50; tarsus, TOO. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



s, placed on the ground in sandy places, two or three in number, oval in form, pinkish white in color, spitted and 

 blotched with reddish-brown and lilac. Dimensions from l*45x 1'95 to 1*50 x<MX). 



HABITS. 



The Sooty Terns are now only found in any numbers on the small islands which lie to 

 the southward of Key West and which are known as the Dry Tortugas. Here they breed 

 on Bird Key which is about four miles from Fort Jefferson, depositing their eggs early in 

 May. The birds are extremely tame when nesting, insomuch so, that they may be killed 

 with sticks or even caught with the*hand, and they deposit the eggs on the naked sand, 

 There were thousands of these birds on this little key, in 1874, but as the soldiers of Fort 

 Jefferson had been in the habit of taking the eggs regularly every other day, but few or no 

 young were raised. The officer \vho had command of the post, prohibited shooting the birds 

 on the island, but the continual robbing of the eggs must ultimately drive the Sooty Terns 

 from this breeding ground. It is difficult to find a nesting site of either Terns or Gulls, 

 from Grand Menan to Florida, where the birds are not subject to systematic pillage, not by 

 scientific collectors but by fishermen and others, who simply want the eggs as an article of 

 diet, with which they could dispense without the slightest inconvenience; and as I have 

 had occasion to remark many times before, in other places, unless the General Government 

 interposes stringent laws for the protection of this class of birds, there will not be one left, 

 where there are thousands now, but where there were once millions. 



