46 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
1.40-1.60, depth of bill at base .85-.40, tarsus .85. Hab. Tropi- 
cal sea-coasts in general; accidental on Florida coast. 
, 76. S. anzthetus Scop. Bridled Tern. 
a’. Wing less than 7.00. Tail about half as long as wing, forked for about half its 
length. (Subgenus Sternula Borg.) 
Summer adult: Above uniform pale pearl-gray ; lower parts, with forehead 
and stripe on each side of crown, back and above eyes, pure white; 
stripe from bill to eye, with crown, occiput, and nape, uniform deep 
black ; bill bright yellow, usually with blackish tip ; feet bright orange- 
yellow (in life). Winter adult: Similar to summer plumage, but lores, 
forehead, and crown grayish white (pure white anteriorly); bill dull 
yellowish, or dusky; feet pale yellow. Young: Somewhat like winter 
adult, but lesser wing-coverts chiefly dusky slate (forming distinct 
patch), scapulars and interscapulars with submarginal V- or U-shaped 
marks of dusky, and quills darker. Downy young: Above grayish white, 
varying to delicate buff-yellow, sometimes immaculate, but usually finely 
mottled with dusky grayish, the head distinctly marked with irregular 
dots of blackish ; lower parts wholly immaculate white. Length 8.50- 
9.75, wing 6.60, tail 3.50 (forked for about 1.75), culmen 1.20, tarsus .60. 
Nest a depression in shingly beach. Eggs 2-4, 1.28 x 0.91, white, buffy 
white, or buff, spotted with brown and purplish gray. Hab. United 
States (rather southerly) south, in winter, through Middle America 
(both coasts) to northern coasts of South America. 
74. S. antillarum (Less.). Least Tern. 
Gznus HYDROCHELIDON Borg. (Page 24, pl. XII, fig. 2.) 
Species. 
a’, Wing less than 9.00. Head wholly dusky or black in summer adult. 
b'. Tail and upper coverts deep gray or plumbeous. 
Summer adult: Head, neck, and lower parts uniform black or plumbeous, 
the lower tail-coverts, however, white; upper parts uniform plum- 
beous. Winter adult : Head, neck, and lower parts white, the orbits 
and ear-coverts dusky; above as in summer. Young: Similar to 
winter adult, but feathers of back, etc., tipped with dull brownish, 
anterior lesser wing-coverts dusky, and sides washed with plumbe- 
ous. Downy young: Above umber-brown, with a few coarse, irreg- 
ular mottlings of black; forehead, crown, throat, and chest plain 
sooty brown; side of head, including lores, dull whitish; belly 
white centrally, sooty gray exteriorly. 
c’. Summer adult with lower parts (sometimes head also) plumbeous, little 
if any darker than upper surface. Hab. Europe, and parts of Asia 
and Africa. H. nigra (Linn,). Black Tern. 
1 Sterna nigra Linn., S. N. ed. 10, i, 1758, 137. Hydrochelidon nigra Bors, Isis, 1822, 563, 
