LARID.E — THE GULLS AND TERNS - STERNA. 



283 



Audubon when in Labrador was surprised to find a Tern — which he supposed to 

 1)0 what he called the Cayenne (.S'. mnxhtHi) — breeding on that coast. It is not prol)- 

 iil)le that the birds he saw, but was unfortunately unable to secure, were of the species 

 to which ho referred them. He obtained an egg — now in my i)Ossession — marked 

 ;is that of the Cayenne Tern ; but it certainly is not an egg of a Sterna mnxima, nor 

 luudly one of the present species. Mr. Howard Saunders thinks the bird seen by 

 Audubon was the Kittiwake Gull ; Vnit it does not seem likely that this ornithologist 

 could have mistaken it for a Tern — a bird with which he was so familiar. 



Mr. Bernard Koss met with the Caspian Tern on the Mackenzie River ; and the 

 Smithsonian Institution has examples from the Hudson's Bay Kegion. Several indi- 

 viduals of this species have been both observed and procured in various portions of 

 the Arctic Regions. Mr. Robert Kennieott secured three near Fort Resolution, in 

 1S()0; Mr. Clarke, Jr., several near Fort Rae, in 18G3 ; Jlr. J. Lockhart, others at 

 Fort Resolution, in 18G4 ; Mr. J. Reid, several on Rig Island, May 20, 1804 ; and Mr. 

 McKenzie, a single specimen near Moose Factory. 



The C^aspian Tern was described by I'allas, who iirst met with it on the shores 

 of the Caspian Sea — from which circumstance it received its name ; mon; recently 

 other Russian naturalists have seen it in that region, though it lias lun-er been found 

 in abundance there. 



Mr. Wheelwright met with it in Scandinavia, where it is a very local bird. A few 

 pairs breed yearly on the Wener, and it has been killed as far north as Tornea ; but 

 it is rare in Sweden. It seems to breed commonly on the Isle of Sylt, in Denmark. 

 Its eggs — three in number — are described as considerably larger than those of the 

 Lm'}is camis, smooth, and of a light drab ground-color, with large and small purple- 

 brown spots scattered over the whole surface of the egg. The spots are wide apart, 

 leaving the ground-color very apparent, and giving to the egg a lighter appearance 

 than is common in the egg of a bird of this family. 



Nilsson states that this species also visits the mouth of the Baltic, and is seen in 

 the vicinity of the Elbe. Mr. E. L. Layard mentions having observed it on the sea- 

 coast of New Zealand. 



Mr. H. Saunders, in his Notes on the Birds of Southern Spain ("Ibis," 1871), 

 states that it was occasionally obtained at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, in Spain, 

 but that according to Guirao it is more abundant on the eastern coast. 



The Caspian Tern is said by Mr. R. Swinhoe to visit the coast of Formosa in 

 its migrations from more northern latitudes, in winter, more esi)e<'ially after severe 

 northeasterly winds. It is also a winter visitor at Ainoy. The same observing 

 naturalist also mentions his finding it plentiful about the harbor of Iloenow, on the 

 Island of Hainan, in February and until the beginning of April. These birds were 

 often seen sitting in large parties on the sand-flats. 



Individuals were met with by Mr. Tristram on the shore near Jaffa ; and Dr. 

 Heuglin found it in paii j throughout the whole year in the Red Seo. and in the Gulf 

 of Aden. It is also stated by Mr. T. L. Powys to occur sparingly in winter at Corfu 

 and on the coast of Epirus ; and Lord Sperling found it very abundant near Mis- 

 solonghi, in Greece, where hundreds of this species could be seen at a time floating 

 over the lagoons on the lookout for their prey. Dr. A. L. Adams ("Ibis," 18G4) speaks 

 of finding this species common in Lower Egypt. Dr. Kirk, in his Notes on the Birds 

 of the Zambesi Region, in Eastern and Tropical Africa, also mentions (" Ibis," 1864) 

 finding these birds, in the month of January, breeding in company with the Sterna 

 veloT, on the low sand-islands off the mouth of the main stream of the Zambesi. There 

 were two or three eggs in each nest, and these are described as being of a dirty gray, 



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