THE CASPIAN TERN. 



The Terns are on the wing, 



See them play! 

 They dart into the sky, 

 They poise, and scream, and fly 



O'er the bay; 

 Round the ship that sails the sea. 

 Round the lig-hthouse o'er the lea- 



The Terns are on the wing! 



C. C. M. 



THE great Caspian Tern is the 

 largest of the family, its wings, 

 when extended, measuring from 

 fifty to fifty-five inches in length. It 

 is a bird of very irregular distribution, 

 breeding in Labrador, along the Arctic 

 coast, on islands in Lake Michigan, on 

 the coasts of Virginia, Texas, and Cali- 

 fornia, and is numerous in Australia. 

 Forbes found it to be more or less 

 common about Washoe Lake and the 

 Humboldt Marshes, Nevada, and the 

 Great Salt Lake, Utah, where it was no 

 doubt breedmg. He says that unlike 

 most other Terns, particularly unlike 

 the almost equally large Royal Tern, 

 the Caspian appears to breed in isolated 

 pairs instead of large colonies, its nest 

 being found far removed from that of 

 any other bird, and consisting merely 

 of a shallow depression scooped in the 

 sand, in which its two eggs are laid, 

 with little if any lining, though a few 

 grass or sedge blades or other vege- 

 table substance are sometimes added. 

 It is very bold in defense of its eggs or 

 young, darting impetuously at the in- 

 truder, uttering meanwhile hoarse bark- 

 ing or snarling cries. 



This elegant and graceful bird is 

 also known as the Imperial Tern. At 

 a distance it is often mistaken for the 

 Royal Tern, but may be distinguished 

 from the latter by its more robust form 

 and less deeply forked tail. Eggs and 

 young have been taken on Cobb's 

 Island, Virginia, in July. Dr. Merrill 

 observed it breeding on Padre Island, 

 near Fort Brown, Texas, in May. 

 Large numbers of this species are said 

 to breed on Pelican Island in the Gulf 

 of Mexico. The eggs vary from white 

 to greenish-buff, spotted and blotched 

 with brown and lilac of different 

 shades. 



The Terns furnish abundant interest 

 while flying. They seem always to be 

 on the wing, and always hungry. Like 

 the Gulls, they seize their food by dart- 

 ing upon it, tossing it into the air and 

 catching it again, without alighting. 

 They pick up from the surface of the 

 water floating objects. They swim on 

 the surface, rarely diving deep. They 

 dart also upon fish from above, and 

 "one plows the water in flight with a 

 knifelike beak in hopes of running 

 through a shoal of fishes." 



lOS 



