I. 



392 The Plover-like Birds 



dignified, are so close together that it is difficult to walk among them without 

 stepping on eggs or young birds. In speaking of the nesting communities of the 

 Sooty Tern (S. fuliginosa) on the Fanning Islands, Dr. Streets says that the 

 birds "formed a cloud when they arose from the ground, and their clamor dead- 

 ened the roar of the surf. They make no attempt at building a nest, but de- 

 posit their one egg anywhere on the bare ground. The eggs were almost as 

 numerous as the clinkers on the coral beach." The Noddies above mentioned 

 usually nest on mangrove trees or such bushes and trees as usually grow around 

 the borders of oceanic islands, but sometimes they nest on rocky ledges and 

 rarely on the ground. When in trees or bushes the nests are usually bulky struc- 

 tures made of sticks and lined with grasses, etc. ; they lay but a single egg. 



Among the sixteen or eighteen species of Terns found regularly or occasion- 

 ally in North America, mention may first be made of the Gull-billed Tern (Gelo- 

 chelidon nilotica), which is nearly cosmopolitan, reaching the Atlantic coast as 

 far north as Long Island and Massachusetts, and is fairly common on the coasts 

 of the Southern States. It is easily distinguished from the other Terns by its 

 especially harsh voice and heavy black bill. Of the typical Terns (Sterna) 

 perhaps the commonest along the Atlantic coasts of North America is the Wil- 

 son's or Common Tern (S. hirundo), which formerly nested in great colonies at 

 many points; but owing to the destruction by plume and egg hunters the numbers 

 were sadly depleted and they seemed almost on the point of extermination, 

 until wardens were secured on several breeding grounds, such as Gull Island, 

 Long Island, and Muskeget off the Massachusetts coast, and by protection for 

 a few years the colonies have been in a measure restored. This species also nests 

 to some extent in the interior from the Gulf States to the Barren Grounds, and 

 beyond our shores is found throughout the greater part of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. An allied species ranging generally over North America is Forster's Tern 

 (S. forsteri), which is distinguished by having the inner web of the outer tail- 

 feathers darker than the outer web, an orange-colored instead of red bill, and 

 other characters, while even more closely related is the Arctic Tern (S. para- 

 disced), which may be known generally by the absence of the black tip to the 

 otherwise red bill and grayer under parts. It is found in summer throughout 

 the Northern Hemisphere, breeding in America from Massachusetts to the 

 Arctic regions, and strangely enough a recent Antarctic expedition has found 

 it abundant during the northern winter (Antarctic summer) in the Weddell Sea 

 and even south of the Antarctic Circle, thus showing a range from 82 N. to 

 74 S. Often associated with the Common Terns but less approachable and tame 

 is the Roseate Tern (S. dougalli], known in summer by its pure white tail and 

 white, delicately pinkish lower parts; it is widely spread along both coasts of the 

 Atlantic, being one of the abundant species about the British Islands. One of 

 the smallest species is the Least Tern (S. antittamm}, which is but nine inches 

 long, while but slightly larger is the Little Tern (S. minutd) of the Old World. 



The Noddies (Anous), so called, originally by sailors, on account of their 

 stupidity in permitting a near approach of man, form an interesting group of 

 some half dozen species of tropical oceanic birds obviously related to the Terns, 



