39 



The Plover-like Birds 



mentioned genus, though really very distinct, is very much larger, reaching a 

 maximum length of twenty-three inches. It is found on the Pacific coast of 

 South America and in the Galapagos Islands, where it was observed breeding 

 abundantly on a small islet lying near the island of Wenman by Messrs. Snod- 

 grass and Heller, who state that it deposits its single egg only on the bare rock of 

 the cliffs, without constructing a nest of any sort. It is, they say, an extremely 

 noisy species, its notes being varied from shrill, elongated cries to harsh guttural 



sounds, uttered while on 

 the rocks as well as when 

 on the wing. 



The Terns (Subfamily 

 SternincB). The Sea 

 Swallows, as the Terns 

 are often called, number 

 between fifty and sixty 

 species, distributed 

 among nearly a dozen 

 genera, the largest 

 (Sterna) embracing the 

 typical Terns with over 

 thirty species. The char- 



FIG. 133. Fork-tailed Gull, Xema sabinii. 



acters separating them 

 from the Gulls have 

 already been given, and like the Gulls they are widely distributed throughout 

 the world, being abundant along oceanic shores, as also about many inland 

 lakes, ponds, and rivers. They are in general smaller and slimmer than the 

 Gulls, the extremes of length being six and twenty-two inches, with an average 

 length of between twelve and eighteen inches. The coloration of the plumage 

 is also quite like that of their relatives, which they likewise resemble in feeding 

 habits except that they plunge more into the water for their usually living 

 prey. The animated scene presented by a flock of Terns is an interesting 

 spectacle, as "dozens dart down at once, cleaving the water like darts, and, 

 rising again into the air, shake the salt spray from their feathers by a single 

 energetic movement, and make ready for a fresh plunge." On the wing the 

 Terns are strong, rapid, and graceful, but, as Hudson says, the flight is 

 "unlike that of any other bird, whether of the sea or land; it is more airy, 

 and suited to the pale, slender, aerial figure; buoyant and slightly wavering, 

 it reminds one a little of the high, apparently uncertain flight of some large- 

 winged butterflies; and it is in perfect harmony, not only with the slimmer 

 form, but with the idea of a being whose life is spent amid wind and mist and 

 fluctuating wave." 



The Terns, with the exception of the somewhat anomalous Noddies, nest 

 often in vast colonies on the ground or on rocky ledges, occasionally, as already 

 mentioned, on the limbs of large forest trees. The eggs, one to four in number, 

 are placed in a slight depression, and sometimes the nests, if they may be so 



