LARID^ — THE GULLS AND TERNS — STERNA. 



285 





deep black. Upper parts pale pearl-gray (uljout as in S. caspia), becoming white on the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts. Tail grayish white, tinged with pearl-gray. Outer webs of primaries pale 

 silvery gray, the outer quill darker ; inner webs slaty in a broad stripe ne.xt tlie shaft, the inner 

 portion abruptly white, the dusky extending anteriorly near the inner edge of the welj, except on 

 the outer quill. Bill deep orange-red ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet deep black. Adult, in 

 summer: Similar, but the forehead, lores, and fore part of crown white. Bill uniform deep (jrunge- 

 chrome, paler at tip ; edges of eyelids black ; iiis dark brown ; legs and feet deep black. Adult, 

 in v>inter : Similar to summer dress, but feathers of the occipital crest more or less bordered with 

 white ; tail-feathers more decidedly tinged with gray, the outer rectrices sometimes quite dark ash 

 terminally. " Young of 

 the year, in August: Bill 



considerably smaller and '^'"' 



shorter than in the adult, 

 its tip less acute, and its 

 angles and ridges less 

 sharply defined, mostly 

 reddish yellow, but light 

 yellowish at tip. Crown 

 much as in the adults in 

 winter, but the occipital 

 crest scarcely recogniza- 

 ble as such. Upper parts 

 mostly white, but the 

 pearl-gray of the adult 

 appearing in irregular 

 patches, and the whole 

 back marked with small 

 irregularly shaped, but 



well-defined spots of brown. On the tertials the brown occupies nearly the whole of each feather, 

 a narrow edge only remaining white. Lesser wing-coverts dusky-plumbeous. Primaries much 

 as in the adults, but the line of demarcation of the black and white wanting sharpness of defini- 

 tion. Tail basally white, but soon becoming plumbeous, then decidedly brownish, the extreme 

 tips of the feathers again markedly white. Otherwise as in the adults" (Coues.) 



Total length, about 18.00 to 20.00 inches ; extent, 42.00 to 44.00 ; wing, 14.00-15.00 ; tail, 

 6.00-8.00 ; the depth of its fork, about 3.00-4.00 ; culmen, 2.50-2.75 ; depth of bill through base, 

 .70 ; tarsus, 1.37 ; middle toe, with claw, 1.40. 



It is very questionable whether the bird with entirely black pileum can be regarded as in full 

 breeding-plumage. In July, 1880, Mr. Ridgway found a colony consisting of several thousands 

 of this species breeding on Cobb's Island, Va. Dozens were shot as they flew from their eggs, and 

 not one could be secured, or even obsei'ved, which did not have the forehead and fore part of the 

 crown white. All the eggs were quite fresh ; but it is barely possible that the birds may have 

 previously laid in some other place, and their eggs have been taken by fishermen. It seems, there- 

 fore, most probable that the wholly black pileum represents the full spring, or perhaps pairing, 

 dress, rather than the livery of the breeding-season. 



This handsome Tern, so far as we now know, has a somewhat restricted residence. 

 Breeding in small numbers on the Atlantic coast as far north as Chesapeake Bay, it 

 becomes more common in Florida, and is probably found more or less abundant along 

 the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as on the Pacific coast of Central 

 America, Mexico, and Southern California. 



Mr. Dresser found it common about the mouth of the Rio Grande during the sum- 

 mer months ; and both Dr. Merrill and Mr. Sennett have met with it in the same 

 locality. Mr. Salvin procured examples among the Keys on the coast of Honduras, 

 in May, 1862. Numerous other specimens, both adult and young, of this bird were 

 afterward obtained in the same locality. 



