38 NESTS AND EOOS OF 



breeding, but not in large colonies. The eggs are two to three in number. They are 

 of a deep greenish-browi), obscurely spotted and blotched with darker shades of the 

 same; they very closely resemble those of the Willet or Curlew. The average size 

 is 1.75x1.25. , ■ 



63. GITIiL-BILLED TERIT. Gelochelidon . nilotica Hasselq, Geog. Dist.— 

 Nearly cosmopolitan. In North America chiefly along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of 

 the United States. ' . , 



In North America the Mafsh Tern, aS, it is commonly, called, breeds from New 

 Jersey southward. On Cobb's, IslandvVa,, it n'^sts sparingly in the latter part of 

 June. Dr. James C. Merrill and George B. Sennett found a colony of this species in 

 company with Sterna forsteri, breeding on a grassy island, among lagoons and 

 marches, near Fort Brown, Texas, May 16, 1877. the nests were slight depressions 

 among the short grass, and the eggs were frequently wet.* This Tern breeds abun- 

 dantly on Pelican Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, in the latter part of May, laying its 

 eggs on the bare sand. Farther south, on the islands along the coast of Mexico and 

 in the Bahamas, it is known to nest in great numbers. The eggs are usually three 

 in number, sometimes four. They vary from yellowish-buff to greenish, spotted and 

 blotched with yellowish-brown and lilac, especially about the larger end, but, like 

 the eggs of all terns, are extremely variable. The average size is 1.75x1.30. This is 

 the only species of tern having the bill shaped in noticeable degree like that of a 

 gull — hence its common name. Marsh Tern is another name by which it is known, 

 but this is not regarded as exactly correct. According to the best authorities the, 

 GuU-billed Tern is a species of wide distribution and is characteristic of no par- 

 ticular region, breeding alike in the 'slands of the Indian Ocean and in those of the 

 Gulf of Mexico, the islands and the coasts of Jutland in Denmark and along the coast 

 and the interior in the marshes and lagoons of southern South America. A few 

 specimens have been taken on the coasts of France and Germany, and it is recorded 

 as being common in Hungary, Greece and Asia Minor, where it breeds. It is knows 

 to breed in various other portions of Southern Europe, and also in the northern 

 parts of Africa. Its flight is spoken of as easy and graceful, partaking of the ele- 

 gance which is characteristic of these birds when on the wing. 



64. CASPIAN TEBN. Sterna tschegrava Lepech. Geog. Dist. — ^Nearly cos- 

 mopolitan; in North America breeding southward to Virginia, Lak^ Michigan, Texas, 

 Nevada an'd California. 



This is the largest of these elegant and graceful birds, the Terns; it measures 

 from twenty to twenty-three inches in length. The bill of tjiis bird In life is of dark 

 vermilion-red, growing lighter towards the tip; the pileum and occipital crest is 

 glossy, greenish-black, extending to the lower line of the eyes. The back and upper 

 parts of wings are pearl-blue, the whole underparts are white. The legs and feet are 

 black. The extent of Vyings in the adult bird is from flfty to fifty-five inches. It is 

 nearly cosmopolitan in its distribution, being found in greater or less abundance in 

 various portions of the globe. At a distance it is often mistaken for the Royal Tern, 

 but may be distinguished from the latter by its more robust form and less deeply 

 forked tail. The bird is also known as the Imperial Tern; irregularly distributed 

 throughout North America, but chiefly in the Arctic regions, where it breeds, and 

 along the entire Atlantic coast. . Eggs and young have been taken on Cobb's Island, 

 Va., in July. Dr. Merrill observed it breeding on Padre Island, near Fort Brown, 



* Notes on the Ornithology of Southern Texas. 



