32 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 82. 



of Covert's annotated lists ^ of the birds of lower Michigan, 

 or in his 1881 list,- or in the manuscript of 1878. In his latest 

 manuscript list, 1904, Covert states: "Included in all the 

 lists of the birds of the state yet no authentic records." It 

 should be noticed that this writer consistently repudiates in 

 his later lists man}-' of his earlier records. The record is 

 furthermore doubtful as Covert had very little experience 

 with the Laridce. The species has few, if any, satisfactory 

 Great Lakes records. We know of none for Ohio, Indiana, 

 or Ontario. The Wisconsin breeding records of Kumlien 

 are apparently not accepted by the A. O. U. in the third 

 edition of the Check-List. 



6. Sterna aniillarum. Least Tern. — There appears to be 

 no unimpeachable record for this tern in the state, the var- 

 ious published records all being open to suspicion. Barrows 

 writes : " It is included in Dr. Miles' list of 1860 on the au- 

 thority of Professor Fox, who is said to have taken a speci- 

 men at Crosse Isle, Detroit River." This is a mistake as the 

 record given by Fox ^ is " The Least Tern, Sterna minnta} " 

 The figure 1, he states, denotes that the records are given on 

 the authority of Audubon in his Synopsis of the Birds of 

 North America. 



Barrows further writes, " In the manuscript notes of A. 

 B. Covert there is a record of a male taken at Sandshore 

 Lake, Ann Arbor, May 4, 1873, as well as three specimens 

 (two males and one female) taken at Bayport, Huron County. 

 October 13, 1878." None of these specimens can be located, 

 however, and it is not impossible that they were specimens 

 of the Black Tern, which has been repeatedly mistaken for 

 the present species. The writer cannot determine the source 

 of these records, as Covert does not furnish any specific dates 

 in any of his published or manuscript lists. He does not in- 

 clude the species in the 1878 list, but in the Atkins manuscript 



^ Forest and Stream. ISTO. 

 - Birds of Washtenaw Comity. 



^ Fox, Charles. The Birds of Michigan, p. 1()3. Phice of pnblica- 

 tion unknown. 



