246 
LESSER TERN. 
middle of which was fastened a small fish for a bait, with limed 
twigs stuck to the four corners, on which the bird darting was 
entangled by the wings. But this must have been for mere 
sport, or for its feathers, the value of the bird being scarcely 
worth the trouble, as they are generally lean, and the flesh sa- 
vouring strongly of flsh. 
The Lesser Tern is met with in the south of Russia, and about 
the Black and Caspian sea; also in Siberia about the Irtish.^ 
With the former, it inhabits the shores of England during the 
summer, where it breeds, and migrates, as it does here, to the 
south, as the cold of autumn approaches. 
This species is jiine and a half inches long, and twenty in- 
ches in extent; bill bright reddish yellow; nostril pervious; low- 
er mandible angular; front white, reaching in two narrow points 
over the eye; crown, band through the eye, and hind-head, 
black, tapering to a point as it descends; cheeks, sides of the 
neck, and whole lower parts, of the most rich and glossy white, 
like the brightest satin; upper parts of the back and wings a pale 
glossy ash or light lead colour; the outer edges of the three ex- 
terior primaries black, their inner edges white; tail pale ash, 
but darker than the back, and forked, the two outer feathers an 
inch longer, tapering to a point; legs and feet reddish yellow; 
webbed feet, claws and hind toe, exactly formed like those of 
the preceding. The female nearly resembles the male, with 
the exception of having the two exterior tail feathers shorter. 
Pennant. 
