TERNS 



(74) Sterna antillarum 



(Lesson). (Of the Antilles), 



LEAST TERN. Size very small. 

 Ad. ill summer — The lower bird in 

 opposite picture. Bill and feet yel- 

 low, the former with a black tip; tail 

 moderately forked; outer web of two 

 outer primaries and shaft portion 

 of inner webs, black. In winter — 

 As shown by the flying bird opposite. 

 Immature birds are similar, but have 

 the back and tail and particularly 

 the coverts with brown or dusky 

 markings. L., 9.00; Ex., 20.00; W., 

 6.60; T., 3.50, forked 1.75; Tar., .60; 

 B., 1.20. Eggs — Three or four, 

 buffy- white, with black spots, 1.25 

 X .90. 



Range — Breeds very locally on the 

 Atlantic coast north to Mass., on the 

 Gulf coast and north to Mo. Win- 

 ters from the Gulf coast southward. 



ing colonies comprise all that can be found along our At- 

 lantic coast now during summer. They are still, however, 

 fairly common along the Gulf coast. The diminishing 

 number of these birds is due chiefly to the building of 

 summer dwellings along the shores they frequented and 

 to too-late protection from their destruction to serve the 

 ends of fashion. 



They lay their three or four eggs in hollows in the sand 

 on the higher portions of low sandy beaches. These eggs 

 are about sand-color, and their spotting serves to make them 

 almost indistinguishable from a distance of a few feet. 

 The terns, too, are scarcely less difficult to see when they are 

 on the ground. Their call is a shrill, "cheep, cheep," with 

 some resemblance to the piping of Semipalmated Plovers. 



SOOTY TERNS, having dark brown wings, were not 

 desired by milliners, which fact may account for the almost 

 countless numbers that are still to be found on some of the 

 Bahaman and West Indian Islands. They are known by 



53 



