Birds of the Weddell and adjacent Seas. 345 
STERNA MAcRURA Naum. 
Sterna macrura Cat. Birds, xxv. p. 62. 
Sterna hirundinacea Bruce & Wilton, Scot. Geogr. Mag. 
1904, p. 128 ; Pirie & Brown, op. cit. 1905, p. 26. 
In the ‘ Antarctic Manual’ (p. 233) Mr. Saunders tells us 
that there is ample evidence that Terns are found in large 
numbers in the South Polar regions, and even within the 
Antarctic Circle, and that Webster found Terns at the South 
Shetlands, whence the Dundee whalers brought back 
specimens which were referable to the well-known South- 
American species Sterna hirundinacea. Mr. Saunders then 
expresses the opinion that it may be reasonably assumed that 
all the Terns found southwards of America are of this form, 
and this is quite correct so far as the breeding species are 
concerned. No Tern is, however, known to breed within 
the Antarctic Circle, nor have, I believe, any specimens 
hitherto been obtained to the south of 66°. 
When the ‘Scotia’ sailed from the South Orkneys she 
left Sterna hirundinacea behind her. Other Terns were 
met with, often in considerable numbers, and specimens were 
fortunately obtained in widely scattered portions of the 
Weddell Sea. These, strange to say, I found to belong to 
the most northern representative of their genus, namely, to 
Sterna macrura, the Arctic Tern! Thus this familiar 
bird to British ornithologists would seem to have the most 
extensive latitudinal range to be found among vertebrate 
animals, since it is now known to occur from 82° N. to 
74° 1’ S. It was doubtless the species seen by McCormick 
in 76° 52’ S. in Ross’s Sea, off Victoria Land, in the forties 
of the last century, and also the bird noted by him in the 
ice between 65° and 66° S. and 158° W. 
During the Antarctic voyages of the ‘Scotia’ Terns 
frequently came under notice, and specimeus of Sterna 
macrura were obtained between 64° 29’ and 72° 18’ 8. 
latitude and from 12° 49’ to 35° 29’ W. longitude. They 
were often observed in considerable numbers, and are 
logged for March 5th, 1904, as being seen in thousands in 
72° 31’S.; while from the 9th to the 13th of the same month, 
