﻿148 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Sterna 
  antillarum 
  (Lesson) 
  

   Least 
  Tern 
  

  

  Plate 
  7 
  

  

  Sternula 
  antillartim 
  Lesson. 
  Descr. 
  Mam. 
  et 
  Ois. 
  1847. 
  256 
  

   Sterna 
  argentea 
  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  305, 
  fig. 
  273 
  

   Sterna 
  antillarum 
  A. 
  "O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No, 
  74 
  

  

  antilld'rum, 
  of 
  the 
  Antilles 
  

  

  Description. 
  Breeding 
  plumage: 
  Crown 
  and 
  lores 
  black; 
  forehead 
  

   white, 
  extending 
  over 
  the 
  eye; 
  upper 
  parts 
  pearl-gray, 
  with 
  a 
  leaden 
  shade; 
  

   under 
  parts 
  pure 
  white; 
  outer 
  primaries 
  black 
  on 
  the 
  outer 
  web 
  and 
  the 
  

   shaft 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  inner; 
  bill 
  bright 
  yellow 
  with 
  dusky 
  tip; 
  feet 
  orange- 
  

   yellow. 
  In 
  winter: 
  Bill 
  dusky; 
  back 
  of 
  head 
  black; 
  top 
  of 
  head 
  spotted 
  

   with 
  black. 
  Immature: 
  Similar 
  to 
  winter 
  birds, 
  but 
  the 
  upper 
  plumage 
  

   more 
  or 
  less 
  mottled 
  with 
  buffy 
  and 
  blackish, 
  often 
  in 
  V-shaped 
  pattern. 
  

  

  Length 
  9 
  inches; 
  extent 
  20; 
  wing 
  6.6; 
  tail 
  3.5, 
  forked 
  1.75; 
  bill 
  1.2, 
  

   depth 
  .28; 
  tarsus 
  .6; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  .75. 
  

  

  Distinctive 
  marks. 
  The 
  adults 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  are 
  easily 
  recognized 
  

   but 
  the 
  young 
  are 
  sometimes 
  confused 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  tern. 
  Besides 
  

   the 
  general 
  difference 
  in 
  structure, 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  species 
  is 
  consider- 
  

   ably 
  less, 
  the 
  wing 
  being 
  only 
  6.25 
  inches 
  in 
  length, 
  while 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  immature 
  

   Black 
  tern 
  is 
  7.75 
  inches 
  or 
  more. 
  The 
  upper 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Least 
  tern 
  are 
  

   much 
  lighter 
  and 
  the 
  under 
  parts 
  are 
  pure 
  white. 
  

  

  The 
  Least 
  tern 
  was 
  formerly 
  a 
  common 
  sunimer 
  resident 
  on 
  Long 
  

   Island. 
  Mr 
  Worthington 
  foimd 
  it 
  breeding 
  at 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  Long 
  

   Island 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  June 
  2, 
  1880, 
  and 
  Mr 
  Dutcher 
  noted 
  it 
  nesting 
  in 
  numbers 
  

   on 
  South 
  Oyster 
  Bay 
  on 
  July 
  11, 
  1882. 
  It 
  may 
  possibly 
  be 
  regained 
  as 
  a 
  

   breeding 
  species 
  by 
  careful 
  protection 
  of 
  the 
  nesting 
  sites. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  

   recorded 
  from 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  by 
  DeKay, 
  Rathbun, 
  Ralph 
  & 
  Bagg, 
  

   Bergtold, 
  and 
  Eaton, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  records 
  on 
  which 
  these 
  

   reports 
  were 
  based 
  are 
  partly 
  in 
  error, 
  as 
  all 
  the 
  specimens 
  from 
  the 
  interior 
  

   of 
  this 
  State, 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  the 
  privilege 
  of 
  examining, 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  

   juvenile 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  tern. 
  On 
  the 
  coast 
  it 
  occurs 
  now 
  as 
  a 
  

   rare 
  migrant 
  or 
  summer 
  visitant. 
  It 
  inhabits 
  tropical 
  and 
  temperate 
  

   North 
  America, 
  and 
  is 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  neotropical 
  superciliaris 
  

   and 
  the 
  palearctic 
  m 
  i 
  n 
  u 
  t 
  a. 
  

  

  