14 Brewster on Terns of the New England Coast. 
of Aphrodite 1 Perhaps like her they were evolved from the sea-foam. 
No sea-foam can be purer than their spotless breasts, and the softest 
tints of the summer sky are impressed upon their pearly mantles. 
If ever birds were born of the sea, surely they are these. The del- 
icate rosy blush of at least one species must have been borrowed 
from some rare shell. But Science, plodding and realistic, frowns 
upon such imagery, and her solid columns of facts and figures are 
resistless. 
Occurring more or less regularly along the coast of New England, 
we find eleven species of Terns, all of which, with one possible ex- 
ception {Sterna caspia ), are either summer residents or migratory 
during the spring or fall months. Of this number five species may 
be set down as accidental visitors, which are either blown from their 
course by adverse winds or wander beyond the usual range. The 
Koyal Tern {Sterna maxima), the Marsh Tern {S. anglica), the 
Sandwich Tern {S. cantiaca), and the Sooty Tern {S. fuliginosa) are 
stragglers from the South, while the Forster’s Tern {S. forsteri), 
breeding in the interior well up into the fur countries, probably 
strikes across to the coast and follows its indentations southward. 
The last-named species, though rare, is of perhaps too regular oc- 
currence to be classed among the accidentals, for one or two speci- 
mens are reported nearly every season, usually during the month 
of September. 
The Caspian Tern — all previous statements to the contrary not- 
withstanding — must be considered a regular visitor every season, 
and one by no means uncommon. They come down from their 
northern breeding-grounds during the latter part of September and 
for several weeks, at least, are to be found in moderate numbers 
all along our seaboard. I have observed them at various points 
from Ipswich to Nantucket. At the latter place, upon one occa- 
sion, six individuals were seen fishing in the harbor near the town. 
As to their wintering within New England limits, I can offer only 
negative evidence, but that points to the inference that they pass 
farther south with the approach of severe weather. During the 
first week of May, 1875, I found them quite numerous at Chatham, 
Mass. They frequented the sand-bars near the shore, and kept apart 
from the Herring and Black-backed Gulls, the only other species of 
Laridce present at the time. The Short-tailed Tern {Hydrochelidon 
nigra) can likewise no longer be regarded as a rare or accidental 
visitor. Their numbers vary considerably in different years, but 
