THE BIRDS OF WISCONSIN. 
13 
forsteri, but many hirundo, and a few paradiscea. As the day 
was warm with bright sunshine the birds did not stay on their 
nests, but the entire colony was constantly hovering over us. 
It was only toward night, as a bird would settle on its nest and 
could be shot as it arose that we succeeded in identifying and 
procuring a few sets of forsteri and hirundo. A second visit to 
the colony a week later was of even more interest, for then the 
nestlings were out in force; but it was utterly impossible to 
distinguish them. As far as our observation goes forsteri 
prefers the small reedy, inland lakes for breeding purposes, 
while hirundo is more often found on the islands of Lake 
Michigan and Green Bay. 
Sterna hirundo Lhin. COMMON TERN. 
Formerly, at least up to 1880, a very common migrant, at 
about the same dates as the preceding. More common on Lake 
Michigan than forsteri, and more abundant here than in the 
interior of the state, preferring the gravelly or sandy islands of 
the lake and Green Bay for nesting places, rather than the 
smaller inland lakes. Very greatly diminished in numbers 
during the last quarter of a century. 
Sterna paradisspa Bi iiiin. ARCTIC TERN. 
A somewhat irregular migrant, at times fairly common, and 
again quite the opposite. We have taken it nesting in Green 
Bay, 1879, and in June, 1891, procured a set of eggs — the 
parent shot on the nest — at Lake Koshkonong. These nesting 
records are, however, to be considered as exceptional. May 
27, 1899, Mr. H. H. T. Jackson, of Milton, found a dead 
specimen of this species, partly devoured by some animal, on a 
muskrat house in a small lake half a mile from Milton. This 
bird proved to be a female and contained two nearly perfect 
eggs. Less common in the fall than in the spring, less often met 
inland in the fall than the two preceding, and not as abundant 
as either at any time or place in the state, this species was 
evidently entirely overlooked by Dr. Hoy, Rev. Mr. Barry and 
others, as it was for many years by Thure Kumlien. It arrives 
a little earlier in the spring than either forsteri or hirundo 
It is readily distinguished from either of these by its smaller, 
redder bill and much darker underparts. 
Sterna antillarum (Less.). LEAST TERN. 
This species can be considered only as a verv rare summer 
visitor from the south. In June, 1898, three full-plumaged 
