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THE BLACK TERN. 



4- Sterna nigra, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCXXXVIII Adult Male and Young. 



The Black Tern begins to arrive from the Mexican territories over the 

 waters of the Western Country about the middle of April, and continues to 

 pass for about a month. At that season I have observed it ascending the 

 Mississippi from New Orleans to the head waters of the Ohio, then cutting 

 over the land, and arriving at the Great Lakes, beyond which many proceed 

 still farther northward. But I have rarely met with them along our Atlantic 

 shores until autumn, when the young, which, like those of all other Terns 

 with which I am acquainted, mostly keep by themselves until spring, make 

 their appearance there. Nor did I see a single individual when on my way 

 to Labrador, or during my visit to that country. They re-appear in the 

 Western Country, in the course of their southern migration, in the months 

 of September and October; but many pairs breed in the intermediate range. 



When residing at Louisville in Kentucky, I found the Black Tern abun- 

 dant in the neighbourhood, breeding on the margins of ponds at a short dis- 

 tance from the Ohio. I also found them with nests and eggs on a pond near 

 Vincennes, in the State of Indiana. Now, however, they have abandoned 

 those places, and merely pass over the country on their way to and from the 

 northern regions. 



Often have I watched their graceful, light and rapid flight, as they advanced 

 and passed over in groups of twenty, thirty or more, from the delightful 

 residence of my worthy friend and kind relative Nicholas Berthoud, Esq. 

 of Shippingport, during the month of May, when Nature, opening her 

 stores anew, benignly smiled upon the favoured land of Kentucky. The 

 gay birds were seen ranging from the basin at the foot of the rapids to the 

 lower part of the narrow channel which separates Sandy Island from the 

 shore, up the clear stream and down again, plunging at short intervals into 

 the water to seize their prey, and continuing their pleasing occupations 

 through the whole day. When the period of reproduction arrived, they 

 would all betake themselves to the ponds, and search along their moist 

 shores for tufts of rank grass such as might form suitable places for their 

 nests. One of their favourite ponds still remains in part, although a great 



