TERNS 



/ 



(67) Sterna sandvicensis acu- 



flavida Cabol 

 (Lat., of Sandwich; slender point, yellowish). 



CABOT'S TERN; SANDWICH 

 TERN. Form slender. Bill very 

 slender, black with a yellow tip. 

 Ad. in summer — Plumage as shown; 

 cro\^Ti and crest black. In winter 

 the crown is mixed with white. L., 

 15.50; W., 13.50; T., 6.00 forked 

 2.50; B., 2,25. Eggs — Two or three, 

 buffy-white with a few small but dis- 

 tinct spots of reddish-brown, 2.10 x 

 1.40; laid in hollows in the sand. 



Range — North and South Amer- 

 ica. Breeds on the coast of Texas, 

 Fla. to N. Car., the Bahamas and 

 West Indies. Casually north to Mass. 



(68) TRUDEAU'S TERN (Ster- 

 na trudeaui). Native to southern 

 South America. Accidental on Long 

 Island and New Jersey. 



tropical in their distribution. In the United States they 

 nest on islands along the gulf and South Atlantic coasts, 

 north to Virginia, and rarely stray north as far as Massa- 

 chusetts. The bill, although large, is more slender than that 

 of the Caspian Tern, the crest is longer and the tail more 

 forked; these differences are not, however, sufficiently great 

 to enable one to positively distinguish the birds in life 

 unless the two species are seen together. 



Butoneotherof our species, CABOT'S TERN, is adorned 

 with a crest. They are tropical terns, coming north regularly 

 only to the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. They are much 

 less abundant within our range than either the Caspian 

 or Royal Terns, from which species they may readily be 

 distinguished by their smaller, trimmer forms and black, 

 yellow-tipped bills. 



And now we come to a group of terns of the same size 

 and quite similar plumages, the FORSTER'S, the COM- 

 MON, the ARCTIC and the ROSEATE TERNS. Although 



49 



