■ I' , 



III 





282 



LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



grayish ; tliront and foreneck uiiilbnn pule grayish ; reinuiiiiiif,' lower parts, inchuling the cliiii, 

 iinmacnliite white. Bill, legs, aiul feet dull orange, the Ibniier with the tip hlacli 'sh. 



Total length, about 21M inches; extent, 51. (H) ; wing, 15.00-17.40; tail, ? 3(l-f).75, depth nl' 

 its forking, .75-l.<)0 ; cuhuen, 2.48-3.10; depth of bill through base, .75-. 95 ; tar.su9, 1.60-1.05 ; 

 middle toe, 1.15-1.40. 



The difTi.'rence in size between examples of this species from North America and those from 

 Europe seems scarcely sullicient to warrant the recognition of a var. imperator. We have exam- 

 ined fourteen adult examples ; but of the.se oidy two were European, one being from Australia, llic 

 others from various parts of North America, including the coast of California. The smallest nl' 

 this series is from Demnark, the wing of which measures only 15.00 inches, the culmen 2.48 ; but 

 a Californian specimen is scarcely larger, measuring only 15.15 and 2.50 respectively. The bill is 

 narrower in the latter specimen than in any other, measuring only .75 of an inch deep at the base, 

 instead of from .80 to .95. The largest specimen is one from Western Australia, which measuics : 

 Wing, 17.00 inches ; tail, 6.50 ; culmen, 3.10 ; depth of bill, .90; tarsus, 1.75 ; middle toe, 1.30. 

 A Canadian specimen (No. 70316, 9) Detroit River, near Sandwich, Ontario, May 2) is .scarcely 

 smaller, however, while the wing is actually longer, the measurements, as above, being 17.40, (!.()5, 

 2.65, .86, 1.60, 1.22 inches. There are two American specimens in the collection which are decidedly 

 smaller than an adult male from Europe, one being the example from California, noted above, iIk' 

 other from Wapitugan, Labrador. The latter measures 16.00, 6.00, 2.55, .80, 1.65, 1.15 inches ; tlie 

 European .specimen in (pie.sti(m being 16.00, 6.25, 2.75, .85, 1.65, 1.20. It is therefore evident that 

 while we may perhaps concede to the American birds of this species a larger average size, the dif- 

 ference is not sutliciently constant to warrant the formal recognition of a var. imperator based upuii 

 dillereuce of size alone. 



The Caspian Tern is somewhat cosmopolitan in its rlistribntion. It is of irregular 

 and comparatively limited occurrence, so far as we know, in Nortli America. Mr. Law- 

 rence has received specimens that had been procured on tlie southern coast of Long 

 Island. Dr. Turnbull nienti(ms the taking of examples on the coast of New Jersey. 

 Mr. lioardman informs me that individuals have been occasionally taken in the Hay 

 of Fundy. Mr. William Hrewster met with a flock at Ipswich, Mass., Hept. 15, 1871, 

 one of which was secured. There were about half a dozen others flying about at the 

 time. Mr. Sennett saw this Tern on the coast of Texas, and Dr. IVFerrill found it 

 breeding on Fadre Island, near Fort Brown. It has been found by Mr. B. F. Gos.s 

 breeding on islands in Lake Jlichigan. 



Professor ICamlieu, to whom this species was once familiar, informs me that he 

 1ms occasionally seen a large Tern in Lake Koskonong, AVis., which he is very con- 

 fident can be none other than this bird. He has seen it near enough to know that it 

 is a Tern, but has never been so fortunate as to secure one. He has met with it in 

 May and in June ; but has never noticed more than three at a time, and generally 

 not more than one. 



Messrs. Ilidgway and Henshaw found this species breeding on Cobb's Island, Va., 

 in the summers of 1879 and 1880. Late in July IVIr. Henshaw procured one pair 

 with their downy young, and others were positively identified ; and there may have 

 been still other individuals among the large Terns seen at too great a distance to 

 be identified as not being the refjia. These two Terns are not distinguished by the 

 residents, both species being confounded under the local name of " Gannet-Strikers,"' 

 or "Gannets." The Caspian Tern is supposed to breed in considerable numbers on 

 certain islands in the vicinity of Cobb's. 



Mr. Ilidgway now regards it as probable that the large red-billed Terns which he 

 saw at the Humboldt Marshes in September, 1867, at Washoe Lake in May, 1868, and 

 at Great Salt Lake in June and July, 1869, Avere of this si)ecies, and not S. maximd, 

 as he had supposed ("Ornithology of the Fortieth Parallel," p. 639). 



