GULL-BILLED TERN. 
MARSH TERN. 
Gelochelidon NILOTICA. 
Char. Upper parts pale pearl gray; crown and nape black; under 
parts white ; bill short, stout, gull-shaped, and of black color ; legs and 
feet dusky. Length about 13 to 15 inches. 
In winter the crown and nape are pale gray, and a bar of darker gray 
runs through the eyes. 
Nest. A slight depression in the sand of a sea-beach or river-bank, 
sometimes amid the low grass on the margin of a marsh ; occasionally 
lined with grass or sea-weed. 
Eggs. 3-4 ; light buff or pale olive, marked with brown and lavender ; 
average size about 1.80 X T30. 
This bird, though rare in England, is very common in east- 
ern Europe, particularly in Hungary and on the confines of 
Turkey. In the new continent it inhabits the whole coast of 
the Atlantic from New England to Brazil. In Europe it 
affects the covert of rushy marshes in the vicinity of the Great 
Lakes, and rarely ever visits the sea-coast or the ocean. It has 
also been seen inland, in Missouri, by Mr. Say, and probably 
penetrates still farther into the interior to the coasts of the 
Great I.akes of the North American continent. Wilson first 
observed these birds on the shores of Cape May. in New 
Jersey, where parties were engaged darting down like Swal- 
