210 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



dismay, for, although of quicker flight, none of the terns dared, to encounter 

 that bird any more than they would venture to attack the frigate pelican in 

 the Floridas. 



The Caspian tern has suffered but little from the hand of man; it 

 is too shy, too hard to kill and not sufficiently abundant to tempt the 

 plumage hunter. Some of the northern colonies, particularly those 

 in Lake Michigan, have been regularly and persistently robbed of 

 their eggs for food until some of them have been materially reduced 

 in numbers. , ,, 



Fall. — The Caspian terns leave their northern breeding grounds 

 during the latter part of September or the first, half of October. Dur- 

 ing recent years they have been growing scarcer on the New England 

 coast, probably because their numbers have been decreasing, on their 

 Labrador breeding grounds. They were evidently more regular in 

 their appearance formerly, for Mr. Brewster (1879) wrote: 



They come down from their northern breeding-grounds during the latter part 

 of September and for several weeks, at least, are to be found in moderate num- 

 bers all along our seaboard. I have observed them at various points from 

 Ipswich to Nantucket. At the latter place, upon one occasion, six individuals 

 were seen fishing in the harbor near the town. As to their wintering within 

 New England limits, I can offer only negative evidence,, but that points to the 

 inference that they pass farther south with the approach of severe weather. 



Winter.— The Caspian tern winters, more or less regularly, as far 

 north as South Carolina, but it is more abundant in the Gulf of 

 Mexico in winter. Messrs. Beyer, Allison, and Kopman (1906) say 

 of its winter habits on the coast of Louisiana that " it occurs singly 

 or in flocks of two or three, and associates freely with qther gulls and 

 terns, often congregating about the oyster and shrimp canneries. It 

 never occurs far from the coast." 



On the California coast it seems to be rare in winter. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — In North America in widely scattered localities, 

 mainly on the coasts or large lakes. East to southern Labrador (near 

 Cape Whittle), Virginia (Northampton County), and South Caro- 

 lina (Bulls Bay). South to the coast of Louisiana (numerous 

 islands) and southern; Texas (Cam,eron County). West to central 

 California (Sutter Basin) and southern Oregon (Klamath Lakes). 

 North to Great. Slave Lake (Fort Rae), central Manitoba (Lakes 

 Winnepegosis and Winnipeg), and Lake Michigan (Green Bay). 

 Eastern Hemisphere birds have been separated as distinct sub- 

 species. 



Breeding grounds protected in the following national reserva- 

 tions : In Oregon, Klamath Lake and Malheur Lake ; in Wisconsin, 

 formerly Green Bay (Gravel Island, 1905 and earlier). 1 



i See Ward, Bull. Wis. Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. 4, 1906, p. 113. 



