320 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



ARCTIC TERN. 



Nc. 71. (Sterna paradisaea.) 



RANGE. 



Generally distributed thioughout the Northern Hemisphere; breeds 

 in North America from the New England States northwards and win- 

 ters towards the southern parts of the United States. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length from 14 to 18 inches according to the length of the tail; 

 extent about 39 in.; tail from 7 to 8 in. Adult in summer: — Bill slender 

 and acute, and of a deep red color, usually without any black on the tip. 

 Feet unusually small and weak and of a slightly paler shade than the 

 bill. Upper parts pearly blue fading into white on the tips of the 

 secoiidari2s and on the tail. Under patts a little paler than the upper. 

 A broad black cap extending from the bill to the nape and including- 

 the eyes. In winter the difference is chiefly in the black cap. The 

 forehead is then white as is the greater part of the crown, shading 

 by lines into the black crescent that is around the nape. Young sim- 

 ilar to the winter adult except that the back is somewhat mottled with 

 dusky. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Breeds abundantly on both the coast and interior from New England 

 northwards including Alaska. They breed in colonies generally on a 

 small island. Their nests are placed anywhere above high water, 

 either on the sand or in the short marsh grass. A slight hollow lined 

 with a few grasses is the limit of their ambition in the nest building- 

 line. They generally lay three eggs, and rarely four and probably 

 five. The ground color of these varies from a blue 'green to an olive 

 buff and they are specked and blotched with various shades of brown 

 and lilac. In size, color and markings they are indistinguishable from 

 those of the Common or the Roseate Terns. The Common and Arctic 

 Terns are frequently found nesting on the same islands. 



HABITS. 



This "Sea Swallow" is a more northerly distributed bird than the 

 Common Tern, although in some of the more southerly breeding 



