190 PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Jan., 1888. 



show to be prevailing, a hnsty deduction is drawn, and the exception is again 

 taken for the rule. An Ornithologist cannot be too much upon his guard 

 when denying or affirming the universality of a trait or habit which he may or 

 may not have observed in his necessarily incomplete observations. 



In correcting or supplying a want in any statement made by Dr. Elliott 

 Coues, one must needs be certain of his ground. But as even the works of the 

 great Audubon contain many errors which lesser and humbler writers than 

 himself have corrected, so we do not consider that we are presuming too much 

 in supplying an omission in the excellent monograph of the Terns, which Dr. 

 Coues has embodied in his ' ' Birds oftlie North West " ; an omission which we do 

 not find noticed or supplied by any of the numerous writers on such matters. 



In distinguishing Sterna maxima, the Royal Tern, of our Eastern Waters, 

 from Sterna elegans, a bird of the Western and South- Western coasts. Dr. 

 Coues mentions several differences, notably of size and relative proportions, 

 serving as guides in separating the two species, which much resemble each 

 other in general appearance. He says — (Birds of the North West, p. 670, ; — 

 ' ' The species — Sterna maxima — is liable to be confounded with only one 

 other of North America — Sterna galericulata, of Lichtenstein — {Sterna ele- 

 gans, of Gambel, which name now holds) — * * . The latter is considerably 

 smaller, with the bill, though as long, or nearly so, much more slender, and 

 differently shaped, with a different proportionate length of tarsus and toes, a 

 rich, rosy blush in the breeding season, * * and even in a Winter specimen 

 the rosy hue of the under parts is perceptible. " 



As he nowhere in his description of the Eoyal Tern makes mention of this 

 last peculiarity, we are justified in concluding that he never observed it. 



In the early part of October, 1884, we were collecting sea bu"ds along the reef 

 which extends Westward from Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and which, 

 at low tide rises like a small island above the water, and is commonly known 

 among the fishermen as "Pelican Bank ". This bar is of many acres in extent, 

 of firm, hard sand, and affords a favorite resting place for large fl.ocks of Gulls 

 and Terns. The Curlew occasionally deigns to visit it, and hordes of bustling 

 little Sandpipers claim it as their own under a title which is seldom questioned. 



Sailing to windward of this bank, we gradually approached within easy range 

 of a large flock composed mostly of Laughing GuUs and Royal Terns. Unsus- 

 pecting any murderous design, they allowed us to give them two barrels as they 

 sat, and as they rose in wild confusion two more were poured into them, and we 

 were pleased at picking up four Royal Terns, for they had been our special aim. 



Upon examining the specimens we were surprised to find that the satiny 

 throat and breast plumage was not of the pure, pearly white that we believed 

 to be universal in this species. On the contrary, the throat, breast, and belly 

 plumage, even to the vent, was suffused with a delicate, creamy, pink hue ; an 

 intangible color that seemed to float through the feathers without belonging to 

 them. On raising the plumage, the color seemed mere intense, as though stri- 

 ving to hide among the roots of the feathers and yet flooding them with its 

 tint: like ruby sanset rays tingeing a snow-white cloud mass until it shines 

 with a borrowed lustre. The color was not the rosy tint described as belong- 



