354 
Synopsis of the Birds 
285. Sterna aranea, Wils. Bill very short, stout, black; 
quill shafts white ; tail slightly forked ; tarsus one inch and 
a half long, black, equal to the middle toe ; webs deeply in- 
dented ; hind nail straight. 
Summer plumage, crown deep black : winter, crown white, 
a black spot each side of the eye. 
Marsh Tern , Sterna aranea , Wils . Am. Orn. viii. p. 143. 
pi. 72. fig. 6. 
Inhabits both continents, and is found in both hemispheres: 
not rare during summer on the coasts of New-Jersey, where 
it breeds. 
286. Sterna hirundo, L. Bill long, slender, red tipped with 
black ; crown black ; quill shafts white ; outer vane of the 
first primary bluish-white ; tail greatly forked ; tarsus red, 
nearly one inch long ; webs entire. 
Adult, both in summer and winter, crown black. 
Young dingy white, varied with gray, brown and rufous; 
hind head only marked with black. 
Great Tern , Sterna hirundo , Wils. Am. Orn . vii. p . 76. 
CO .jig. 1. 
Inhabits both continents : common during summer on the 
coasts of the northern and middle states, where it breeds. 
287. Sterna arcttca, Temm.* Bill moderate, very slender, 
red to the tip ; crown black ; quill shafts white ; outer vane 
of the first primary black; tail greatly forked; tarsus three 
quarters of an inch. 
* The back and wings are still paler than S. Hirundo, (and by no means 
darker, as Temm. states) in our specimens. It may be somewhat doubtful, 
whether this species is Sterna Arctica, Temm. (macroura of Germ. Orn.) 
as it does not well agree with their description ; it coincides better with 
S. argentata, Brehm. but not precisely even with that ; we, however, think 
them all one and the same. 
