78 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 



The Terns in Nova Scotia. 



[FROM ADVANCE SHEETS OF " OUR BIRDS IN 

 THEIR HAUNTS," BY J. H. LANGILLE.] 



Outside of Malione Bay on the south 

 shore of Nova Scotia, are several islands of 

 interest in respect to Ornithology. Flat 

 Island, near Tancook, is a grand resort for 

 several species of Terns. It comprises 

 about a hundred acres, is clear of trees, and, 

 as its name implies, is comparatively level. 

 Ledges of slate crop out here and there, 

 however, forming low ridges with marshy 

 jiatehes intervening. As one approaches 

 the rocky shores, large numbers of Terns 

 are seen scouring the surface of the water 

 for food. Of all the birds of our northern 

 seas, these are the most elegant and grace- 

 ful. Mackerel Gulls, the fishermen call 

 them, but, though nearly related, they are 

 no Gulls at all. Bearing a resemblance in 

 almost every point to these larger and more 

 bulky birds, they are of a much more slen- 

 der and dedicate mould. Small and light- 

 bodied, fork- tailed, with slender, pointed 

 bill, long, pointed wings, and small, webbed 

 feet, they are the very ideal of a swimming 

 bird of flight. In no respect are they 

 divers, but birds of the air which delight to 

 sport on the surface of the waters. The 

 soft silvery grey of the upper parts harmo- 

 nize finely with the sea and sky ; the lighter 

 tint or white of the under parts, is pure as 

 tbe snowy crests of foam, while the crowns 

 of glossy black, and the bills and feet of 

 coral-red are points of bright and pleasing 

 contrast. What a powerful leverage in 

 that ethereal element, the air, have those 

 long pointed wings, raising the light body 

 several inches at every stroke, and serving 

 it as a well trimmed sail before the wind. 

 How lightly this bird drops upon the water 

 for its food of tiny fishes, too light and 

 airy to dive out of sight, and often carrying 

 its prey like a toy for some time, as if it 

 fished for sport rather than from hunger. 

 Occasionally a group of Terns will play 



together with a little fish, one seizing it in 

 the air as another drops it, and so passing 

 it from bill to bill apparently for the mere 

 sport of catching it. As the Tern flies low 

 over the water, its downward pointing bill 

 moving this way and that, it seems to be 

 fishing in earnest; and again it gyrate; 

 high in the air, light, agile and airy as : 

 swallow, and so suggests the propriety o 

 one of its names — the Sea Swallow. 



It is on their breeding grounds, hov 

 ever, that the Terns may be studied to tt 

 best advantage. As one lands on Flat I 

 land, the air in every direction seems air 

 with them. They rise beyond gun-she 

 the great mass interjecting their snov 

 circles against the sky and the aggrega 

 of their hoarse ter-r-r-r-r-r, ter-r-r-r-r-r, 1 

 coming almost deafening. As one approaet 

 the resting places, which are here a 

 there all over the island, some will di '- 

 down and hover noisily only a few yards 

 above one's head. There it is that the pure 

 underparts, the gracefully spread tail, the 

 bright eyes, and the bills and feet of bright 

 carmine, appear to the best advantage. In 

 all their varying attitudes, this moving 

 cloud of lithe and elegant creatures is a 

 most pleasing and animating sight. 



In this dense, moving mass, the species 

 far the most numerous is the Arctic Tern 

 (Sterna macrura). Length, 14.00-17.00 ; 

 extent, 28.00-30.00 ; tail, 5.00-8.00 ; bill, 

 1.20-1.40; tarsus, .50-.67; this kind is a 

 little more bulky than the Wilson. It is 

 also generally distinguishable by its darker 

 underparts and its bill of clear carmine, 

 but is invariably so by its short tarsus, — 

 only a half inch or a little more. In winter, 

 and during the second summers the fore- 

 part of the crown is white, as also in the 

 young of the year in its mottled plumage 

 of grey -and brown and which was once 

 called the Portland Tern. The young have 

 the bill and feet black and the underparts 

 white even into the second summer. Habi- 

 tat, Europe, Asia, Africa, North America 

 generally, south to the Middle States, and 



