Brewster.] 402 October 3, 



80. Sterna macrara, Naum. — Arctic Tern. 



Although less numerous than Wilson's Tern the present spe- 

 cies was everywhere common in favorable localities. It oc- 

 curred in the greatest abundance at the eastern extremity of Am- 

 herst Island, where it represented at least twenty-five per cent of 

 the total number of Terns breeding there. I had several excel- 

 lent opportunities for comparing the notes and habits of the two 

 species. Their notes are similar, but several of them can be dis- 

 tinguished. The usual cry of S. macrura corresponds to the tearr 

 of S. hirundo, but is shriller, ending in a rising inflection and 

 sounding very like the squeal of a pig. The bird also has a short, 

 harsh note similar to that of Forster's Tern. At any distance 

 within fair gun-range I could usually separate it from Wilson's 

 Tern by its longer tail and by the uniform and deeper color of the 

 bill. In flight and habits the two seemed to me identical. 



A fine example of the immature condition, separated for a brief 

 period under the name " S. portlandica," was taken at Amherst 

 Island and two others seen near the eastern entrance to the Gut 

 of Canso. The one killed had the sexual organs undeveloped and 

 evidently was not breeding, although, like the specimen which I 

 shot years ago at Muskegat Island, Mass., it occurred in a nest- 

 ing colony. 



81. Cymochorea leucorrhoa, Vieill. — Leach's Petrel. 



A few Leach's Petrels were seen in the Gulf, but the species was 

 not observed in any numbers. At Bird Rock I found seven spec- 

 imens in the bottom of a deep but perfectly dry well. All were 

 dead, and the majority more or less decomposed. They had evi- 

 dently entered by a crevice between the boards which covered 

 the top, probably mistaking this opening for the entrance to a 

 burrow. The light-keeper had noticed them there several days 

 previously when two of the number were alive. They were the 

 first that he had seen on the rock, and he was confident that none 

 ever breed there. 



82. Oceanites oceanicus, Kuhl. — Wilson's Petrel. 



From the time of leaving Annisquam to our return a day rarely 

 passed at sea when more or less of these Petrels were not seen. 

 We observed them everywhere between Annisquam and the Gut 

 of Canso, and they were common and generally distributed in the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence. They occurred most numerously during 



