44 BIRDS 



the wide freedom of the ocean in his every movement, is 

 truly a revelation. It sends the blood coursing hotly 

 through his veins until the impulse to get away into the 

 broader activities of life, to see something of the wide land 

 known to this winged creature, cannot be put down. 



"In flight they progress easily by continued leisurely 

 wing strokes, each stroke seeming to throw the light body 

 upward slightly as though it were but a feather's weight. 

 In flight the watchful eye is turned hither and thither in 

 quest of some food morsel, which may be a luckless fish 

 venturing too near the surface, to be snatched up by a deft 

 turn of the wings and a sudden stroke of the keen bill. 

 Floating refuse also is gathered from the surface of the 

 water while the bird is resting. 



" It is only in the breeding plumage that this gull wears 

 the slaty, plumbeous hood. It seems doubtful if the birds 

 obtain the hood until the second or third year, when they 

 are fully adult. But in any plumage there are some dark 

 spots about the head. 



" The nest is placed in bushes, trees, or on high stumps, 

 and is composed of sticks and grasses, with a hning of finer 

 vegetable material. The three or four eggs have the gray- 

 ish-browii color, spotted and blotched with browns, which 

 is characteristic of this group of gulls." 



Lynds Jones. 



CASPIAN TERN 



The Caspian Tern is the largest of the terns, and is read- 

 ily recognized by the coral-red bill. Birds of wide range, 

 thev are extremelv sociable, and not only nest in colonies, but 



