CASPIAN TERN. 271 
by the black-headed group. Most of the species 
are summer visitants. 
Genus Sterna, Linnceus. — Generic characters . — 
Bill rather long, nearly straight, compressed, 
drawn to a fine point, maxilla with a slight 
angle near its centre ; nostrils basal, lateral, 
linear, oblong, pervious ; wings very long, ac- 
cuminate, quills in situ having a narrow surface, 
first longest ; legs short, feet small, tibia: naked 
for a short space down the tarsal joint, hallux 
short, claws sharp. 
Types. — St. hirundo, rosea, minor , &c. Cos- 
mopolite. 
Note. — Gregarious; breed on the coasts or islands ; 
take their prey by a partial plunge. 
The Caspian Tern, Sterna Caspia, Pall . — 
Hirondelle du mer, Tschegram, Temm. — Caspian 
Tern of British authors. — The Caspian Tern has 
been killed at different times on the English coast, 
particularly on the eastern side, but we are not 
aware of any birds occurring to the northward or in 
Scotland. It is a bird of which very little generally 
is known ; it breeds eastward along tlio shores of 
Europe, has been obtained in the Grecian Archi- 
pelago, and, as its namo indicates, in the Caspian 
Sea. Its only recorded breeding station is at Lylt, 
an island on the west coast of Jutland. * We have 
* Yarreil, 
