652 LITTLE TERN. 
but is abundant on the south shore of that sea; while it follows 
the course of the large rivers for a great distance, and nests on 
their islands and sand-banks, so that it may be said to extend across 
the Continent to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. - It 
also frequents the Atlantic coast, breeds in North Africa as far as 
Lower Egypt, and on the west side it descends in winter to Cape 
Colony. Along the Asian plateau it is found nesting as far as 
Northern India, visiting Burma and even Java; but in Ceylon, 
China, and the eastern region generally, its representative is 
S. sinensis, which is rather larger and has white shafts to all its 
primaries; while S. saundersi, with black shafts, inhabits the 
African and Indian coasts. In North America we find S. anzidlarum, 
with dark shafts, as in our bird, but with a grey rump and very 
little black at the tip of the bill; whereas on the east side of South 
America and far up the great rivers, S. superciliaris, with stout and 
wholly yellow bill, is the representative species. These and other 
small Terns have been placed by some systematists in the genus 
Sternula. 
The 2-3 eggs, laid on the bare shingle or soil towards the end of 
May or early in June, are stone-coloured—often with a bluish 
tinge—spotted with ash-grey and dark brown: measurements 1°35 
by ‘95 in. Far from showing fear when its haunts are approached, 
the bird advances with rapid beats of its long pinions, uttering a 
peculiarly sharp fzrve, and it will frequently settle on its nest not 
long after being disturbed. It feeds on small surface-swimming 
fish and their fry, shrimps and other crustaceans. Like most Terns, 
it may often be seen swimming or resting on the water. 
The adult in summer has the bill orange-yellow tipped with 
black ; forehead white, loral stripe, crown and nape black; mantle 
pearl-grey; wing-feathers grey, with white margins to the inner webs, 
and with dark shafts to the two outer quills, which are, moreover, 
ash-grey ; tail and entire under-parts white ; legs and feet orange. 
Length 9 to 9‘5 in., according to the length of the tail; wing 6°75 in. 
In winter the black on the head is duller in colour. The young 
bird (figured in the background) has the bill dark brown at the tip, 
paler at the base ; forehead, crown and nape tinged with buff and 
streaked with blackish-brown ; mantle dull grey, tinged with buff 
and mottled with umber ; tail-feathers greyish-white, slightly freckled 
with brown near the tips. The black loral streak is not well defined 
until after the second moult, up to which period a dark line on the 
carpal joint and a grey tinge on the rump and tail-feathers indicate 
immaturity ; breeding takes place the following spring. 
