38 



BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



food they often collect in numbers about the inlets or other places where the tides 

 run rapidly between the shoals. On such occasions they may be seen flying slowly 

 against the breeze, or falling off and darting with great rapidity down wind, only 

 to round up in wide, irregular circles. From a height of ten to fifty feet they 

 plunge like beautiful silvery arrow-heads into the deep, and with equal grace rise 



FIG. 16. LEAST TEEN. 



again quickly on the wing. After feeding, they rest in crowds on the sand-bars 

 or along the beaches. Not infrequently the spot chosen is the favorite resting-place 

 for other varieties of birds, and the assembly forms a noticeable object as viewed 

 from a passing vessel. These birds also nest to a limited extent on the sand-beaches 

 about Ocracoke. In addition to fish, the Least Tern is said to partake sparingly 

 of insects. 



FIG. 17. SOOTY TERN. 



24. Sterna fuscata (Linn.}. SOOTY TERN. 



Description. Upperparts uniform sooty black, forehead, sides of head, and lower parts white; 

 bill and feet black; immature birds wholly sooty brown, paler below; the anal region and under 

 wing-coverts white. L., 15.00-17.00; W., about 12.00; T., 7.00-7.50. 



Range. Mainly tropical and subtropical regions. 



Range in North Carolina. Occasional on the coast; accidental inland. 



