NATATORES — LARID.E— RHYNCHOPS. 
299 
The Big or Common Tern appears in great numbers along our coast, and on the inland 
lakes, about the middle of April, and soon after begins to breed. The nest is a mere cavity 
scooped in the sand, containing 3— 5 greenish brown eggs blotched with blackish brown. It 
leaves us in the autumn for the south, and hence is generally known here as the Summer 
Gull. In Massachusetts it is called Mackerel Gull, from its simultaneous appearance with 
that fish. This or a closely allied species has recently been separated from S. liirundo, by 
the Prince of Canino, but the specific differences are not very obvious. It is very widely 
distributed throughout Europe and America. With us it ranges from the tropics to the arctic 
circle. 
THE CAYENNE TERN. 
Sterna cayana. 
PLATE CXXVI. FIG. 277. 
(COLLECTION OF H. C. DE RHAM.) 
Sterna cayana. Latham, Ind. Orn. Vo!. 2, p. 801. Bonaparte,. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. Vol. 2, p.. 353. Nuttale,. 
Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 268. 
Tfialasseus id. Bonaparte, Geog. and Comp. List, p. 6T. 
Sterna cayana . Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 7, p. 76, pi. 429. Giraup, Birds of Long island, p. 356. 
Characteristics. Bill long and very robust, red. Tail moderately forked. Tarsus 1'5 
long, black: webs entire. Crown black. Young, brownish above, 
varied with yellowish brown and black. Length, 19'0. 
Df.scrjption. Adult: Head and hind head black ; above greyish blue. Quills bluish 
grey on their outer webs, white on the inner webs, and darker towards their edges. Young 
(fig. 277): Bill 3'0 along the gape : angle towards the tip of the lower mandible distinct. 
Tarsus stout and rather rounded : naked portion of the tibia O'7. Tail forked to the depth 
of one inch. 
Color. Bill bright reddish. Legs and feet dusky, tinged with reddish. Front, summit of 
the head and occiput black, minutely streaked with white ; this extends down the nape. 
Space on the side of the head, anterior to the eye, and on the auriculars, deep blackish. 
Back and wing-coverts pearl-grey, slightly tinged with rufous ; the feathers with angular 
brown bars, and tipped with light ochreous. Tail feathers pearl-grey, with spots or obsolete 
bars of brown near their ends, and tipped and margined with white. Quills hoary brown on 
their outer webs, darker on the margins of their inner webs. Rump and all beneath pur.e 
white ; the white forming a collar round the neck. Length, 16'0. 
Length, 16'0-19 - 0. 
This species occurs sparingly on the seacoast of New-York. It resembles in size, and in 
its robust tarsi, the smaller Gulls. Breeds from Florida southwardly. Ranges from the in- 
tertropical regions to 55° north latitude. 
38* 
