10 THE BIRDS 
western Saskatchewan and Manitoba south to northern 
Colorado, northern Nebraska, northeastern Illinois, and 
southern Ontario, and on coasts of Texas, Louisiana, and 
Virginia; winters from southern California, Gulf of 
Mexico, and South Carolina to southern Guatemala; in 
migration oceurs on the Atlantic Coast, casually as far 
north as Massachusetts; casual in Brazil. 
To the average person there is little difference between 
this species and the following one, though on their breed- 
ing grounds they are easily recognized by the location of 
the nests. The Forster’s Tern always breeds back from 
the beaches; in, or bordering the marsh; either building a 
substantial nest in the marsh, or utilizing the drift cast 
up by the equinoctial storms, or on pieces of boards or 
lumber out in the marsh. The Common Terns prefer the 
ocean beach, the closer the better, and make little or no 
nest compared to that built by the Forster’s Tern. In a 
large series of eggs of both species there is clearly shown 
that there is so little difference in both size and color of 
the eggs that they could not with a certainty be identified. 
They are rather a scarce breeding bird on our coast now 
compared to former times, for they, like the other terns, 
were slaughtered by the thousands for the millinery trade. 
Their graceful flight and rapid movements in search of 
food, especially if scraps are thrown over from a vessel, 
can not but interest the onlooker, even though he is not 
a bird crank. A most pleasing sight is to see a large flock 
of terns sitting on the sand bar or beach at low tide, their 
heads drawn down or turned around and partly tucked 
under the wing coverts, all apparently asleep. The ripples 
as they wash up under the birds carry some off their 
feet, throwing them against others, when a general 
