302 
NEW-YORK FAUNA -BIRDS, 
THE ARCTIC TERN. 
Sterna arctica. 
Sterna arctica. Temmingk, Vol, 2; p. 472. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 354. Sabine, Parry’s 
Voyage. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 414. Ndttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 275. 
Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 7, p. 107, pi. 436. 
Characteristics. Bill moderate, slender, and with the feet red. Crown black : outer web 
of the first quill black. Tail greatly forked, and just exceeding the 
wings. Tarsus O’ 7. Young, with the nape only darker. Length, 
14-5. 
Description. Bill compressed, straight, acute, 2'0 along the gape. Tail deeply forked; 
the outer feathers four inches longer than the middle pair. 
Color. Bill and feet red i nails black. Above deep pearl-grey ; beneath of the same 
color, except the lower tail-coverts, which are whitish. Crown, and elongated occipital 
feathers black, tinged with greenish. Outer quill, and occasionally the next, with the outer 
webs black. 
Length, 14’0 — 15" O'. 
I have never met with this very distinct northern species in this State, but I' have been 
credibly informed that it occasionally appears here, and the Prince of Canino states that it is 
not rare in the autumn on the seacoast of the adjoining State of New-Jersey. Breeds from 
the polar seas to Maine, and occasionally migrates farther south. Ranges from the seventy- 
fifth to the thirty-eighth parallels, and occurs on both shores of the Atlantic. 
