310 LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



adult. Bill dusky, brownish toward the base ; feet brownish. Downy youny : Above, grayish 

 white, finely mottled with dusky grayish, the head distinctly marked with irregular dots of dusky 

 black ; lower parts entirely immaculate white. Bill dull yellow, tipped with dusky ; legs and 

 feet clear pale yellow. 



Total length, about 9.00 inches ; extent, 20.00 ; wing, 6.60 ; tail, 3.50, its fork, 1.75 ; culmen, 

 1.20 ; depth of bill at base, .28 ; tarsus, .60 ; middle toe, with claw, .72. 



This little Tern has several near allies in difl'erent parts of the world. The differential charac- 

 ters of the American species and their European representative are as follows : — 



A. Loxccr parts xoliite. 



a. Rump and tail white \. S. minuta.^ 



b. Rump and tail pearl-gray. 



b'. Bill more or less black tipped. Wing less than 7.00 inches. Feet 

 bright yellow 2. 5. antillarum. 



b". Bill without black tip. Wing 7.00 inches or longer. Feet oliva- 

 ceous yellow. Upper parts darker gray. Bill larger and much 

 stouter, and lateral rectrices more elongated 3. 5. supcrciliajis.^ 



B. Lower parts gray A. S. exilis.^ 



The Least Tern of North America appears to be restricted to the Atlantic coast ; 

 occurring occasionally in the interior, along the banks of our larger rivers. I have 

 never met with it north of Southern Massachusetts ; but Mr. Boardman informs me 

 that it is occasionally seen in midsummer as far east as the St. Croix Kiver and the 

 Passamaquoddy — where, however, it is very rare. Audubon claims to have found 

 this species breeding off Labrador, in June, 1833, and to have again observed it on 

 Newfoundland on the 14th of August ; but I can find no corroboration of its presence 

 beyond the Bay of Fundy. 



This species is supposed to leave the United States in the month of October, and 

 to return here in the following April. It is more or less common in several of the 

 West India Islands. In Cuba it is undoubtedly a resident, and breeds there. In 



1 Sterna minuta. 



Sterna miniita, Linn. S. N. I. 1766, 228. — Kfa's. & Blas. Wiib. Eur. 97. — Naum. Yog. 



Deutschl. X. 1840, 145, pi. 254. — M.^cgill. Man. II. 1840, 234. 

 Sterna metopoleiicus, S. G. Gmel. Nov. Comm. Petrop. XV. 475, pi. 22. 

 Sterna fissipcs, Brehm, Viig. Deutschl. 790 (not of Linn.). 

 Sterna pomarina and danica, liREliM, t. c. 791. 



Lesser Tern, Yarr. Brit. B. ed. 2, III. 519, fig. ; ed. 3, III. 524, fig. ; et AucT. 

 Hab. Palajarctic Region, to India and Cape of Good Hope. 



2 Sterna superciliaris. 



Sterna supereiliaris, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XXXII. 1819, 126. — ScL. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, 

 571. —Saunders, P. Z. S. 1878, 662. 



Sterna superciliaris, a. superciliaris, Coues, Birds N. W. 1874, 692. 



Sterna maculata, Yieill. Enc. Meth. 1823, 350. 



Sterna anjentea, Max. Yoy. I. 1820, 67; Beitr. IV. 1833, 871. — Pelz. Oni. Bras. 1870, 325. 

 Hah. Eastern South America, west to the headwaters of the Amazonian tributaries. 

 8 Sterna exilis. 



Sterna exilis, Tscnu-Dl, Faun. Per. Aves, 1846, 306. — ScL. & Salv., P. Z. S. 1871, 572.— 

 Saunders, ib. 1878, 663. 



Sterna loratn, Pn. & Landb. Wiegm. Avcliiv, 1863, pt. I. 124. 



Sternula loricata, Gray, Handl. III. 1871, 12"i. 

 Hab. Coast of Peru and Chili. 



There are, in addition to these, S. sinensis, Gm. (Cliina to Australia) ; <S'. sxcmatrana, Raffl. (Ceylon 

 to the Red Sea) ; aS". nereis, Gould (Australia and New Zealand) ; and aS*. balmnarum, Strickl. (from 

 the Cape of Good Hoiie). 



