54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



72. The Roseate Tern. 



Sterna dougalli M.OTATKG. 1813. 



Rare on the coast of Nova Scotia. {Downs.) Recorded on the 

 authority of Col. Thomas Egan, who assures me a specimen was 

 lately obtained and is now in the possession of Mr. John Rowe, of 

 Halifax, N.S. (Jones.) Not uncommon, and breeding on Sable 

 Island, N.S., August, 1899. 



MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 



Two skins taken on Sable Island, N.S., August 12th, 1899, by the 

 writer. 



73. Aleutian Tern. 



Sterna aleutica Baird. 1869. 



The Aleutian Tern arrives at St. Michael, Norton Sound, by 

 June 1st and remains until the latter part of August. It is very 

 abundant in the vicinity, breeding plentifully on a small island 

 just at the northern end of the "canal." {Turner.) These birds 

 extend their range to the head of Norton Bay and reach the 

 Siberian coast at Behring Strait. They undoubtedly winter in 

 the vicinity of Kadiak Island and the coast of the Northern 

 Pacific adjacent thereto. {Nelson.) 



Breeding Notes. — The Arctic Tern is so intimately associated 

 with the Aleutian Tern, both in nesting habits and procuring food, 

 that the remarks for the one will apply to the other. Their 

 nests are sometimes placed within two feet of each other, and 

 apparently without causing animosity between the species. 

 {Turner.) This species is strictly limited to the sea-coast, and 

 breeds upon small dry islands along the coast. The birds reach St. 

 Michael from May 20th to 30th and are found scattered along 

 the coast in company with the Arctic Tern for a short time, but 

 early in June they gather about the islands where they nest. One 

 of these islands is about a mile from St. Michael, in the mouth 

 of a tide-channel known as the "canal." This island is about half 

 a mile across, rises about thirty feet from the beach in a sharp ' 

 incline, and has a rather level top covered with a thick mat of 

 grass, moss and other vegetation. The upland is dry, and here 

 the birds breed, laying their eggs directly upon the moss, with 



