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LONCf-WINQED SWIMMERS — LONOIl'ENN'KS. 



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win^, tipa of Rocoiuliiries, lower part of rump, ui)])i'r tail-cowrts, and {greater portion of tlie tail 

 pure white. Lower parts pale ])earl-f,'ray or {grayish wiiite (iiuu'h lighter than the ujiper pai't>), 

 becoming gniJually white on the under part and Hides of the head, and pure white on the crissinn. 

 Outer web of lateral tail-featlier ash-gray, darker terminally, in abrupt contrast with the i)ure whitf 

 of the Inner web ; outer weljs of remaining rectrices, except the intermedia', paler grayish, OntiT 

 welj of outer primary blackish slate ; outer surface of other primaries light silvery gray, slightly 

 paler than the back ; inner webs chiefly white, with a stripe of grayish next the shall, this slii|ii' 

 abruptly defined on the first five (piills, but growing gradually broader and jialer toward the lil'lli, 

 nnd extending, near the end of the feathei-s, a greater or less distance towanl the base, but the edge 

 itself narrowly white ; five inner quills pale silvery gray, the iinier webs edged with white. Hill 

 bright vermilion blackish terminally, except on the tomia ; inside of mouth orange-vermilion; 

 edges of eyelids black ; iris very dark brown ; legs and feet orange-vermilion, lighter than tin: 

 bill ; claws black. Adult, in winter: Similar, Imt forehead, crown, and anterior part of lores wliilo, 

 the vertex mixed with black ; entire lower i)arts pure white. Yuiiwj, Jir.it plummje : Orbital vegion, 

 occiput, and nuijc dull black; crown mixed black and grayish white; forehead and lores, wiili 



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entire lower parts, upper tail-coverts, inner webs of rectrices, and tips of secondaries, white. U])]ht 

 parts pale bluish gray, the scapulars, interscapulars, and tertials tipped with jiale butt", and marked 

 with an indistinct subterminal lunule of dusky brown ; anterior lesser wing-coverts dusky, form- 

 ing a broad bar across the wing ; primaries nuicli as in the adult, but darker ; wing-coverts ]ialcr 

 than the back, and bonlered indistinctly with white. Outer webs of rectrices grayish, deepening 

 on outer feathers into slate. Bill dusky brownish, the base of the nuindilile paler and more red- 

 dish ; feet pale yellowish (in the dried skin). Dou-uy young : Not distinguishable with certainty 

 from that oi S. paradiswa (.«'). 



Total length, 13.00-10.00(14.50) inches ; extent, 29.00-3Si.00 (31.00) ; wing, O.Tn-ll.TS (10..')0); 

 tail, ."J.OO-T.OO (().0O); depth of its fork, about 3.50 (average); culmen, 1.25-1.50 (1.35); depth of 

 bill through base, about .33 ; tarsus, .66-.87 ; middle toe, .75. 



Assuming Sterna hinindo and S. Wilsoni to be specifically the same, we niu.st 

 consider it as having an extent of distribution tliroughout the entire globe hardly 

 surpassed by that of any other species. At different seasons it is found in all jnirts 

 of Europe anil Western Asia, and has also been taken at Madeira, on the Canary 

 Islands, in Senegal, and in Southern Africa. It is found on the Atlantic coast of 

 North America, from Texas and Florida, as far as tlie St. Lawrence, breeding si)()radi- 

 cally, often in company with the Laughing Gull and the Roseate Tern, from Florida 

 to New Hampshire, and with the Arctic Tern, front Muskegat, Mass., northwnrd. 

 Sometimes the colonies of these different species are harmoniously mingled ; but more 

 generally, even when on the same island, they keep somewhat apart. This Tern is 

 also common in the interior, nesting on islands in fresh-water lakes and ponds, but 

 usually in smaller numbers than on the sea-shore — probably on account of the less 

 abundant supply of food. 



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