DESCRIPTIVE LIST 37 



Similar to the above but front of the head white, more or less streaked or spotted with black; 

 underparts pure white. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) Im., first plumage. "Pileum and nape 

 pale buffy grayish, finely mottled or sprinkled with darker, and streaked, especially on the 

 crown, with dusky; orbital and auricular regions dusky blackish; remainder of the head, extreme 

 lower part of the nape, and entire lowerparts white, the nape and sometimes the breast, finely 

 mottled with buffy gray; back, scapulars, wing-coverts, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, 

 pale pearl-blue, the back and scapulars overlaid with pale buff irregularly mottled with dusky, 

 each feather with a submarginal dusky V-shaped mark; primary coverts and primaries dark 

 bluish gray edged with paler, the inner webs of the latter broadly edged with white; tail-feathers 

 marked near their ends much like the longer scapulars, their outer webs rather dark grayish; 

 bill brownish dusky; feet dusky." L., 15.50; W., 9.50; T., 7.50; B., 1.50 (B., B., and R.). 



Range. Temperate and tropical regions, on coasts; now rare in the eastern United States. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region; rare migrant. 



FIG. 15. ROSEATE TERN. 



Our only record of the occurrence of the Roseate Tern in North Carolina is that 

 made by Bishop at Pea Island, August 22, 1904. (Mss.) The bird is not known 

 to nest south of Massachusetts and possibly New York. 



23. Sterna antillarum (Less.). LEAST TERN. 



Ads. in summer. Forehead white, lores and crown black; back, tail and wings pearl-gray; 

 outer web of outer primaries and shaft part of inner web slaty black; underparts white; bill 

 yellow, generally tipped with black; feet orange. Ads. in winter. Top of head white, more or 

 less spotted with black; back of head black; bill blackish. Im. Upperparts and tail at end 

 mottled with blackish and buffy, primaries as in adult, underparts white, bill blackish. 

 L., 9.00; W., 6.90; T., 3.50; B., 1.10. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Tropical and temperate America. Breeds from Massachusetts to Venezuela. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region in summer; breeds. 



This is the smallest of our terns. Judging by the reports of fishermen, the "Little 

 Striker" was at one time the most abundant of those Longipennes which frequent 

 the sounds and beaches of our South Atlantic coast. The beauty of its plumage as 

 well as the convenient size of its wings for women's hats made it a bird especially 

 desired for commercial purposes. It has been stated frequently on good authority 

 that ten thousand skins of the Least Tern were collected by a New York millinery 

 firm on Cobb's Island, Virginia, in a single season. Royal Shoal Island, together 

 with Legged Lump Island, both of which are owned and protected by the Audubon 

 Society, are today the homes of the largest colonies in the eastern United States; 

 four or five hundred pairs gather here each summer to breed. When in quest of 



