Terns 



It is the larger Caspian tern, measuring from twenty to 

 twenty-tiiree inches, and not the royal tern, that deserves to be 

 called maxima, however imposing the size of the latter bird may 

 be, thanks to its elongated tail ; but unless these two birds may 

 be compared side by side in life — a dim possibility — it is quite 

 hopeless for the novice to try to tell which tern is before him. 



Off the Gulf shore, especially in Texas, Louisiana, and 

 Florida, where great numbers live, this handsome bird exer- 

 cises its royal prerogative by robbing the fish out of the 

 pouch of the pelican, that is no match, in its slow flight, 

 for this dashing monarch of the air. But if sometimes 

 tyrannical, or perhaps only mischievous, it is also an indus- 

 trious hunter; and with its sharp eyes fastened on the water, 

 and its bill pointed downward, mosquito fashion, it skims 

 along above the waves, making sudden evolutions upward, 

 then even more sudden, reckless dashes directly downward, 

 and under the water, to clutch its finny prey. With much flap- 

 ping of its long, pointed wings as it reappears in an instant 

 above the surface, it mounts with labored effort into the air 

 again, and is off on its eager, buoyant flight. There is great 

 joyousness about the terns a-wing; dashing, rollicking, aerial 

 sprites they are, that the Florida tourists may sometimes see 

 tossing a fish into the air just for the fun of catching it again, or 

 dropping it for another member of the happy company to catch 

 and toss again in genuine play. It would even seem that they 

 must have a sense of humor, a very late . appearing gift in the 

 evolution of every race, scientists teach ; and so this lower form 

 of birds certainly cannot possess it, however much they may 

 appear to. 



While the terns take life easily at all times, nursery duties 

 rest with special lightness. The royal species makes no attempt 

 to form a nest, but drops from one to four rather small, grayish 

 white eggs marked v/ith chocolate, directly on the sand of the 

 beach, or at the edge or a marshy lagoon. As the sun's rays 

 furnish most of the heat necessary for incubation, the mother 

 bird confines her sitting chiefly to her natural bedtime. 



48 



