Rye Beach, N.HJ86£b ^ 
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The Short-tailed Tern (Hydrochelidon nigra ) in New England. — 
In former numbers of this Bulletin I have repeatedly insisted that the Short¬ 
tailed Tern is a much commoner New England species than writers have 
been willing to admit. This opinion has been greatly strengthened by the ex¬ 
periences of the past season(i88o), for, in addition to a number of specimens 
which were received by the Boston taxidermists from various points along 
the Massachusetts seaboard, I have the following specific reports from 
Nantucket and Rye Beach, N. II . At the former place Mr. H. S. Sweet 
saw no less than fifty individuals on August 22. They were flying over 
Miacomet Pond , and as they passed his point of observation on their way 
seaward, were accurately counted. 
A flock seen at Rye Beach by my friend Mr. H. M. Spelman, on August 
24. was nearly as large, the number of birds being estimated at about forty. 
They appeared on a small sheet of brackish water locally known as the 
“ Eel Pond,” where they stayed several days. They were very shy but 
Mr. Spelman succeeded in killing four specimens. 
While it is not unlikely that their appearance in such large numbers is 
exceptional, there can no longer be any question that the Black Tern is 
of regular and not uncommon occurrence during August and September 
at most suitable points on the New England coast south of Po rtland, ^ 
Maine. — William Brewster, Cambr!dggQ^£^p^ % O. O. 0 ,.April* 1881 , p J%b 
