158 
STERNA NIGRA. 
about tlie 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 nine and a half inches long, and twenty 
inches in extent ; bill, bright reddish yellow ; nostril, 
pervious,* lower mandible, angular; front, white, 
reaching in two narrow points over the eye ; crown, 
band through the eye and hindhead, 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 exterior 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. 
250. STERNA N&RA, LINNJEUS . — STERNA PLUMBEA, WILSON., 
SHORT-TAILED TERN. 
WILSON, PLATE LX. FIG. III. 
A specimen of this bird was first sent me by Mr 
Beasley of Cape May ; but being in an imperfect state, 
I could form no correct notion of the species, sometimes 
supposing it might be a young bird of the preceding 
tern. Since that time, however, I have had an oppor- 
tunity of procuring a considerable number of this same 
kind, corresponding almost exactly with each other. 
On the 6th of September, 1812, after a violent north- 
east storm, which inundated the meadows of Schuylkill 
in many places, numerous flocks of this tern all at 
* Pennant. 
