355 
of the United States . 
Adult, both in summer and winter, crown black. 
Young as the preceding. 
Arctic Tern, Sterna arctica, Nob. Am. Orn. iv. pi. Sterna 
argentata , Brehm. 
Inhabits the north of both continents : not rare in autumn 
on the coasts of New-Jersey. 
288. Sterna minuta, L. Bill long, slender, orange, black at 
tip ; crown black ; front white ; quill shafts black ; tail great- 
ly forked ; tarsus half an inch long ; webs entire. 
Young somewhat dingy and spotted; black of the head 
obsolete. 
Lesser Tern , Sterna minuta, Wils. Am. Orn. vii. p. go. 
pi. 60. fig. 2. 
Inhabits the north of both continents, extending widely • 
common during summer on the coasts of the northern and 
middle states, where it breeds. Closely resembling Sterna 
argentea, P. Max. Neuv. from which our phrase distin- 
guishes it. 
** Black, or blackish. 
289. Sterna nigra, L. Bill slender, black ; tail slightly 
forked ; tarsus five eighths of an inch ; webs deeply indented. 
Summer plumage, wholly blackish-cinereous : winter, 
plumbeous, head and neck deep black ; front, throat and 
vent, white. 
Young white; hind head blackish; back, wings and tail, 
brownish, skirted with dingy-whitish. 
Short-tailed Tern, Sterna jplumbea, Wils. Am Orn. vii . 
p. S2.pL 60* fig. 3- young ; and Black Tern , Sterna nigra, 
Nob. Am. Orn. iv. pi. adult. 
Inhabits both continents : common during autumn on the 
coasts of New-Jersey. 
290. Sterna fuliginosa, Gm. Bill black ; front, exterior 
edge of the outer tail feathers and all beneath, white ; tail 
deeply forked ; webs entire. 
