ROYAL TERN. 
217 
ROYAL TERN. 
CAYENNE TERN. GANNET STRIKER. 
Sterna maxima. 
Char. Mantle pearl gray; tail with less of the bluish tint; rump 
nearly white ; crown and nape black ; primaries silvery gray, the inner 
webs with a dark stripe ne.xt the shaft, and inner edge white ; under parts 
white ; bill orange ; legs and feel black. Length 18 to 21 inches. 
After the mating season, — the spring months, — the crown becomes 
more or less white, and in winter the nape also has white feathers mi.xed 
with the black. 
Nesl. No attempt is made to construct a receptacle for the eggs, which 
are laid on the sand of a sea-beach or on the edge of a marshy lagoon. 
l~4i buflfy or yellowish drab, marked with brown or pale lilac; 
average size about 2.65 X 1.75. 
Nuttall makes bare mention of this handsome bird, — la grande 
Hirofidelle-de-mer de Cayenne of Buffon, — knowing nothing of its 
habits or distribution, and in error gives A", caspia as a synonym ; 
but the Caspian Tern is a larger bird and quite distinct. Our bird 
is not exclusively American, as Nuttall supposed, for Dalgleish 
found it on the west coast of Africa. In the United States it is 
confined chiefly to the tropical and warm temperate regions, sel- 
dom ranging north of latitude 40°, though a few examples have 
wandered to the Great Lakes and as far up the coast-line as 
Massachusetts. 
The centre of its abundance is along the Gulf shore, the birds 
being especially numerous in Florida and Texas, though they are 
also rather common at Cobb’s Island, Virginia. 
The name of “ Gannet-striker ” — often shortened to “ Gannet ” 
— lias been given to the Royal Tern from its Gannet-like per- 
formance of descending upon its prey from the wing, darting 
down perpendicularly and swiftly, plunging under the surface of 
the water, but soon reappearing, and mounting into the air again 
with considerable difficulty. 
