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GULL-BILLED TERN. 
The Gull-billed Tern, Sterna Anglica, Mon- 
tagu. — Hirondelle de mer hansel, Temm. — Gull- 
billed Tern of British authors. — This tern, very rare 
to the British list, was distinguished by Colonel 
Montagu in his Supplement, and Mr. Yarrell states 
that he has heard of two examples killed in 1832, 
one of them in Kent ; but it may be considered as 
of accidental occurrence even in temperate Europe, 
and its breeding places have not been described. 
"We have had no opportunity of seeing foreign spe- 
cimens, but many authors that we ought to have 
reliance on give it a very extensive range. Mr. Au- 
dubon and Mr. Selby consider Wilson's marsh tern 
identical ; Colonel Sykes gives it from India ; it 
is also a native of the Isles of Sunda according 
to Temminck, who considers the S. affinis to be 
the same species. In habits it is said to frequent 
lakes and rivers rather than the open sea, and to 
resemble more the two next species than those 
which are more decidedly maritime. The angle of 
the maxilla is more developed than in the other 
British species. 
In summer the forehead, crown, and nape are 
black; the upper parts, including the tail, grey; 
quills with the outer web of the first darker ; the 
under parts of the body white ; bill, legs and feet, 
black. In winter the black upon the head is want- 
ing ; length from fifteen to sixteen inches. 
