FAM. LX. TERNS AND GULLS 



325 



of the head is black, but in winter the crown is white spotted 

 with black, and the side of the head is marked with a large 

 black spot surrounding the eye. The young has a mottled back 

 and short tail. 



Length, 15 ; wing, 10 (OJ-IOJ) ; tail, 5-8, forked, 2-5 ; tarsus, | ; oul- 

 men, 1|. North America ; breeding north to Virginia, Illinois, Manitoba, 

 and California; wandering to Massachusetts, and wintering south to 

 Brazil. The Trudeau's Tern (68. Sterna trudeaui) of southern South 

 America has been seen a few times in the eastern United States. It is a 

 pale, pearl-gray tern, with the head and under surface of wings white, and 

 tail and rump lighter than the body. A narrow bar of slate color begins iu 

 front of the eye, passes through it, and curves downward toward the back 

 of the head. Length, 16 ; wing, lOJ ; tail, i^-Qi ; tarsus, 1 ; culmen, IJ. 



6. Common Tern (70. Stirna hirundo). — A pearl-gray -backed, 

 white-throated tern, with a pale, pearl-gray breast and belly, and 

 a deeply forked tail. In summer, 

 the whole top of the head is 

 black, and the bill is red except 

 the end third, which is black ; 

 but in winter, the front part 

 of the head is white, the bill 

 mainly black, and even the un- 

 der parts change from pearl-gray 

 to white. The outer webs of the 

 outer tail feathers are gray, and 

 the inner webs white. The young 

 is somewhat mottled, and has a 

 short tail. On the islands of our 

 coast this tern was a very com- 

 mon bird, until fashion de- 

 manded it as an ornament for 

 ladies' hats ; at present it is out 



of fashion, but the bird has become almost extinct. 

 Swallow ; Wilson's Tern.) 



Length, HJ ; wing, lOJ (9|-11|) ; tail, 6, forked, 3| ; tarsus, |; cul- 

 men. If. Northern hemisphere ; in North America, mainly east of the 

 Plains ; breeding from Florida and Texas to the Arctic coast, and winter- 

 ing from Virginia southward. 



Gommon Tern 



(Sea 



