194 
British Birds. 
in colonies. The nest is made of decaying plants and weeds, the eggs being only 
three in number, varying from deep clay-colour to greenish-grey or buff, with black 
confluent blotches or spots, and grey underlying spots. The length is about an 
inch-and-a-half. 
An accidental visitor to Great Britain, of which five examples 
THE WHISKERED ] iave been recorded from England and one from Ireland. It is 
TERN. 
(Hydrochelidon 
hybrid a.) 
Sec p. 195. 
a South European species, but it also breeds in Africa and 
India. It is easily distinguished by its red bill, white chin and 
sides of face, and white under wing-coverts, as well as by the grey 
upper and under tail-coverts. In the winter plumage, when it re- 
sembles H. nigra more closely, it maybe told by the deeper incision of the web on the 
foot. In habits it resembles the Black Tern, and breeds in colonies. The nests float on 
the water, and are merely platforms of reeds and rushes. The eggs are three in 
number, of a greenish -grey or clay-colour, with blackish blotches and scribblings ; 
their length is from an inch-and-three-eighths to an inch-and-five-eighths. 
This species has 
THE 
WHITE-WINGED 
BLACK TERN. 
(. Hydrochelidon 
leucoptera.) 
the under surface of 
the body and the 
under wing-coverts 
black, and it is 
easily told by the 
white upper tail-coverts and tail, and 
by the patch of white along the carpal 
bend of the wing. In winter the white 
tail still distinguishes the species, but 
young birds are more difficult to tell, 
though they always show some white 
on the rump. It has occurred many 
times on the southern and eastern 
coasts of England, as well as in 
Ireland. It breeds throughout the 
marshes of Southern Europe and Central Asia, as well as in Africa, 
nest and eggs, the species resembles the other Marsh Terns. 
As will be gathered from its name, this Tern has a very stout 
bill, like that of a Gull. The tail is short, and decidedly forked, 
and the tarsus is long, exceeding the length of the middle toe 
and claw. The Gull-billed Tern is a common bird in Southern 
Europe and even nests as far north as Denmark, and it is also 
The White-winged Black Tern. 
THE 
GULL-BILLED 
TERN. 
( Gelochelidon 
anglica.) 
In habits, 
found breeding in China, Australia and North America. It has 
been taken in England on several occasions. It feeds on small fish and frogs, as 
well as on grasshoppers and other insects. The nest is a hollow in the sand, lined 
