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THE ROSEATE TERN 



Sterna Dougallii, Mont. 



PLATE CCXL. Adult. 



On the 28th of April 1832, it was my lot to be on the beautiful rocky 

 islet named Indian Key, where I spent a few hours of the night in un- 

 successful attempts to procure repose, which was effectually banished by 

 the consciousness of my being in a portion of the country not yet exami- 

 ned by any industrious student of nature, and in which I expected to 

 find much that would prove interesting. The rain fell in torrents, and 

 the rattling of the large drops on the shingles of the veranda in which my 

 hammock had been slung, together with the chillness of the air, contri- 

 buted to keep me awake. Finding it useless to remain in bed,:! roused 

 my companions ; it was just four o'clock, and in a few minutes all the 

 people in the house were up, and breakfast preparing. Before six the 

 rain abated, and as I was determined not to lose a day, the guns were 

 mustered, we made our way to the boats, and pushed off through a gentle 

 shower in quest of unknown birds ! In about an hour the rain ceased, the 

 sky gradually cleared, and the sun soon dried our clothes. About this 

 time we observed a great number of Terns on a sand bar, which we ap- 

 proached. The birds were not shy, so that we obtained an opportunity 

 of firing two guns at them, when we leaped out, and on wading to the 

 shore picked up thirty-eight Roseate Terns and several of another spe- 

 cies. 



Beautiful, indeed, are Terns of every kind, but the Roseate excels the 

 rest, if not in form, yet in the lovely hue of its breast. I had never seen 

 a bird of this species before, and as the unscathed hundreds arose and 

 danced as it were in the air, I thought them the .Humming Birds of the 

 sea, so light and graceful were their movements. Now they flocked to- 

 gether and hovered over us, again with a sudden dash they plunged to- 

 wards us in anger ; even their cries of wrath sounded musical, and al- 

 though I had carried destruction among them, I felt delighted. As I 

 have just said, I had not before seen a Roseate Tern, not even the skin 

 of one stuffed with tow ; the species was not in the Synopsis of my friend 

 BoNArARTE, and now I had my cap filled to the brim with specimens. 



