CASPIAN TERN. 
GAN NET STRIKER. 
Stkrn.4 TSCHEGRAVA. 
Char. Mantle pale pearl gray: tail and wings silvery; crown and 
nape black; under parts white ; bill red, tipped with black ; legs and feet 
black. In winter the black cap is streaked with white. In immature 
birds the upper parts are light gray mottled with brownish gray ; bill 
yellowish brown: legs and feet brown. The largest of the Terns. Length 
21 inches or more. 
Nest. A slight hollow in the sand, sometimes lined with a little grass 
or sea-weed. 
2-3; buff of various shades, sometimes tinged with olive, 
marked with brown and lavender ; average size 2.60 X t.75. 
This Tern received its name from Pallas, who discovered it on the 
shores of the Caspian Sea. It was first described in 1 770, but was 
not known to the earlier American naturalists, Baird’s work of 
1858 being the first in which its name appears. 
It is not abundant in this countr}’’, or indeed in any country ex- 
cepting in a few localities, though cosmopolitan in its distribution 
