34 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Gulf of Mexico. The nests are mere hollows scooped in the dry sand, 

 in which the birds deposit two or three eggs. These vary from white to 

 greenish-buff, spotted and blotched with brown and lilac of different 

 shades ; broader and more elliptical than those of the next species ; 

 size 2.66x1.77. 



65. Sterna maxima Bodd. [681.] 



Royal Tern. 



Hab. Tropical America and warmer parts of North America, northward to Massachusetts, the Great 

 Lakes and California. West coast of Africa north to Tangiers. 



This handsome Tern, next in size to the Caspian, breeds in large 

 colonies along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey southward, depositing 

 from one to three or four eggs on the bare sand. It breeds abund- 

 antly along the coasts and on the marshes of Florida. On some of 

 the islands in the Gulf of Mexico it nests in immense numbers. Very 

 abundant on many of the lagoons and marshes of Southern Texas. 



Prof. Robert Ridgway records the Royal Tern breeding on Cobb's 

 Island, Va., in the first part of July. In an area of about an eighth 

 of an acre the eggs were so numerous that it was almost impossible to 

 walk through the nesting site without crushing a greater or less num- 

 ber ; many of the eggs were covered by the drifting sand.* 



The eggs are described as being narrower, and especially more 

 pointed and rougher, than those of the Caspian Tern. They are 

 yellowish-drab, irregularly blotched with dark umber and lilac of 

 various shades; sizes range from 2.67 to 2.75 long by 1.70 1.75 broad. 



66. Sterna elegans Gamb. [682.] 



Elegant Tern. 



Hab. Pacific coast of America from California to Chili. 



Dr. Coues describes this Tern as a "truly elegant species, resemb- 

 ling the Royal Tern, but easily distinguished." It is a Mexican and 

 Central American species, rarely occurring on the Californian coast. 

 An egg is described as having a ground-color of pinkish- white, with 

 bold and distinct markings of deep black and burnt sienna and subdued 

 shell-markings of lavender-gray; size 2.20 by 1.45. 



67. Sterna sandvicensis acuflavida (Cabot.) [683.] 



Cabot's Tern. 



Hab. Tropical America, northward along the Atlantic coast, irregularly, to Southern New England. 



The beautiful Sandwich Tern has an extensive distribution. In 

 North America it has been observed as far north as Southern New 

 England, and is known by the name of Ducal Tern. Breeds in large 



"Bull. Nutt. Club, Vol. V, pp. 221-223. In article on the eggs of Sterna caspia. 



