4« BIRDS 



the wide freedom of the ocean in his everj* movement, is 

 truly a revelation. It sends the blood coursing hotly 

 throuixh his veins until the impidse to get away into the 

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

 known to this winged creature, camiot be put dowii. 



" In flight they progress easily by continued leisureh^ 

 wing strokes, each stroke seeming to throw the light body 

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

 In tlight the watchfid eye is turned hither and tliither 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 luxxl. It seems doubtful if the birds 

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

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

 sjwts about the head. 



" The nest is placed in bushes, trees, or on liigh stmups, 

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

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

 isli-bro\m color, spotted and blotched with browns, which 

 is characteristic of this group of gulls." 



Lyxds Jones. 

 CASPIAN TERX 



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

 ily recognizetl by the coral-red bill. Birds of Avide range, 

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



