BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 47 



Adults in Winter ; Head, neck, and under parts white ; upper parts 



deep pearl-gray. 

 Young: Similar to winter adults, but feathers of back tipped with 



brownish, and sides washed with slaty. 

 Dovmy Young: Upper parts dull dark brown, coarsely mottled with 



black ; top of head, throat, and breast plain blackish brown ; side of 



head dull whitish ; belly white, washed with dark gray. 

 Geographical Distribution : Temperate and tropical America, from 



Alaska to Brazil and Chili. 

 Breeding Range : Interior of United States from latitude 39° northward. 



On Pacific coast breeds abundantly in Oregon and California. 

 Breeding Season : Approximately, from May 10 to August 1. 

 Nest : The eggs are laid on a mat of reeds and decaying vegetation float- 

 ing among rushes of a marsh, in shallow water ; or occasionally on 



bare ground of a mud flat. 

 Eggs: 2 or 3; brownish green, thickly spotted with dark and light 



brown and light purple, mostly about the larger end. Size 1.35 



X 0.98. 



The Black Tern has long wings and a 

 short tail which, with its darii coloring, 

 renders it easily dis- 



77. American 

 ' Black Tern. 



^^ As it picks dragon-flies 

 from the low rushes,*^ 



tinguishable from the 

 other species occur- 

 ring on the Pa- 

 cific coast. Liite Sterna antillarum, 

 it is a fly-catcher among the terns, ' .; % 

 feeding almost entirely on aquatic insects and dragon- 

 flies. It darts and skims over the marshes with the 



