8^ 



LESSER TERN 



four comers, on which the bird darting was entangled by the wings* 

 But this must have been for mere sport , or for its feathers, the va- 

 hie of the bird being scarcely worth the trouble, as they are gene- 

 rally lean, and the flesh savouring strongly of fish. 



The Lesser Tern is met with in the south of Russia, and about 

 the Black and Caspian sea; also in Siberia about the Irtish.^ With 

 the former, it inhabits the shores of England during the summer, 

 where it breeds and migrates, as it does here, to the south as the 

 cold of autumn approaches. 



This species is nine and a half inches long, and twenty inches 

 in extent; bill bright reddish yellow ; nostril pervious; lower man- 

 dible angular; front white, reaching in two narrow points over 

 the eye; crown, band through the eye and hind head black, taper- 

 ing to a point as it descends; cheeks, sides of the neck and whole 

 lower parts of the most rich and glossy white, like the brightest 

 satin; upper parts of the back and wings a pale glossy ash or light 

 lead color; the outer edges of the three exterior primaries black, 

 their inner edges white ; tail pale ash, but darker than the back, 

 and forked, the two outer feathers an inch longer, tapering to a 

 point; legs and feet reddish yellow; webbed feet, claws and hind 

 toe exactly formed like those of the preceding. The female nearly 

 resembles the male, with the exception of having the two exterior 

 tail feathers shorter. 



* Pennant, 



J- 



