152 



ARCTIC TERN. 



(Sterna arctica.) 



St. rostro rufo, apice nigro ; tarsis brevibus ; Cauda valde fur cata. 

 Tern with the beak red, its tip black, the tarsi short, the tail very 



much forked. 

 Sterna arctica. Sabine, Frank. Journ. App. 694. Parry's App. 



p. ccii. 

 Hirondelle de mer arctique. Temm. man. d'Orn. 2 Edit. ii. 742. 

 Arctic Tern. Lath. Gen. Hist. x. 116. 



Length fourteen inches : beak bright red : irides 

 brown : crown and nape deep black : beneath the eye 

 a streak of white : the rest of the upper parts of the 

 plumage similar in colour to those of the Common 

 Tern, but of a deeper cinereous ; the throat, and 

 fore part of the neck of a deeper hue than the back : 

 part of the belly and the tail-coverts white : tail much 

 forked : legs red : the tarsi and toes very short. 



Resembles the Common Tern, but readily distin- 

 guished by the brevity of its tarsi, and by the beak 

 being entirely red, without a black tip. 



It was discovered during the expedition to the 

 northern regions by Captain Sabine, and is said to 

 be frequent in the arctic countries : it has lately been 

 found also on the coasts of Scotland, the Orcades, 

 and on the shores of the Baltic, and according to Dr. 

 Latham, in his new edition, it has been found at 

 Sandwich in Kent. Its manners are unknown, ex- 

 cept that it feeds upon fishes. 



