BLACK TERN. 23 1 



in Europe it is met with as far as Iceland. In all situations it 

 appears to prefer the borders .of rivers, lakes, or marshes to 

 the vicinity of the sea, except when engaged in its migrations. 



This Tern is a common summer inhabitant of England, ap- 

 pearing, according to Montagu, in Romney Marsh, in Kent, 

 about the latter end of April, breeding on the sedgy borders 

 of pools, and though very near to the sea, it is rarely seen 

 on the shores till after the breedingrseason, and is then un^ 

 common. These birds breed hfcewise in the fens of' Lincoln- 

 shire, making a nest of flags or broad grass upon a tiift just 

 elevated aboVe the surface of the water. 



The young of this species are rather common on the coasts 

 of New Jersey during autumn} on their way still farther 

 south to pass the winter. Wilson observed a flock- of these 

 driven inland as far as th6 meadows of the Schuylkill, by a 

 violent storm from the northeast. Hundreds of them were to 

 be seen at the same time, accompanied by flocks of the Yel- 

 low-Legs and a few Purres {Tringa alpind). Famished by 

 the accident' which had impelled them from their usual abodes, 

 they were now busy, silent, and unsuspicious, darting down 

 after their prey of beetles, grasshoppers, and other insects, now 

 afloat by the inundatidn, without hesitating, though perpetually 

 harassed by guniiers, who had assembled to view the extra- 

 ordinary spectack ' of these rare flocks of wandering birds. In 

 ordinary, as in Europe, they frequent mill-ponds and fresh- 

 water marshfes, in preference to the bays and the sea-coast. 



The Black Tern is a common bird on the lakes of the interior 

 north to Alaska; and is seen on the sea-coast chiefly during the fall 

 migration. It breeds southward' to the Middle States, west of the • 

 Alleghanies, Occasional examples occur along* the Massachusetts 

 shore, and some have been taken at Grand Menan. 



In " Birds of Manitoba " Thompson writes : — "It seems not to 

 subsist on fish at all, but chiefly on dragon flies and various aquatic 

 insects. It finds both its home and its food in the marshes usually, 

 but its powers of flight are so great that it may also be seen far out 

 on the dry open plains, scouring the country for food at a distance 

 ot'miles from its nesting ground." 



