30 
GULLS AND TERNS 
blackish around eyes and on back of head ; forehead and under parts 
white ; back light gray with buffy edgings to feathers and dusky spots on 
wings ; bill and feet brownish or pale reddish. Length: 13-16, wing 9.75- 
11.75, bill 1.25-1.50, tail 5-7, forked for about 3.50. 
Distribution. — Greater part of northern hemisphere ; in America mainly 
east of the plains; south to Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Lower California. 
Nest. — Made of grasses or seaweeds, or eggs laid on the bare rock, or in a 
depression in the sand. Eggs: 2 to 4, pale bluish to greenish drab, with 
lilac shell markings and rather evenly distributed spots of brown. 
The common terns are mainly birds of the Atlantic coast, and 
together with other terns and gulls have been so sought after by 
plume hunters and eggers that a few years ago they were on the road 
to extermination. The Bird Protection Committee of the American 
Ornithologists’ Union took up the matter, however, and by the ap¬ 
pointment of wardens to protect the birds on their breeding grounds, 
and by protective laws enacted in the states where the terns occur, 
succeeded in rescuing the birds, which, in addition to their useful 
work as scavengers, give life and beauty to otherwise barren shores. 
71. Sterna paradissea Brunn. Arctic Tern. 
Outer web of outer tail feather dusky, rest of tail white. Adults in 
summer: bill carmine, feet vermilion, bill without black tip ; top of head 
black, bordered by white superciliary; body clear deep gray. Adults in 
winter : under parts white, or tinged with grayish ; forehead white, rest of 
crown streaked with black. Young : similar to young of hirundo , but with 
breast and throat washed with dull brownish. Length: 14-17, wing 10.00- 
10.75, bill 1.08-1.40, tail 6.50-8.50, forked for 4-5. 
Distribution. — Mainly circumpolar regions; south in winter to Massa¬ 
chusetts, Colorado, and California, breeding in Massachusetts and Quebec. 
Nest. — A bare spot on the ground, sometimes with a little grass. Eggs: 
1 to 3. 
Subgenus Sternula. 
74. Sterna antillarum (Less.). Least Tern. 
Breeding plumage. — Upper parts pearl gray, with black lores and black 
on top and back of head; two or three outer 
quills mainly dusky ; forehead superciliary, 
and under parts white. Adults in winter: 
crown grayish, whole forehead white. 
Young: like adults in winter but with 
brownish on back, and with U or Y-shaped margins to part of feathers. 
Length : 8.50-9.75, wing 6.60, bill 1.20, tail 3.50, forked for about 1.75. 
Distribution. — United States from California, Dakota, the Great Lakes, 
and Massachusetts south to northern South America. 
Eggs. — 2 to 4, buff to cream white, spotted about the larger end with 
brown and lilac ; laid in a depression in the sand on an island or sand 
beach. 
The least tern is abundant along the coast of southern California 
in summer, arriving, Mr. Grinnell says, about the middle of April 
and leaving usually the latter part of August. He states that it 
nests abundantly in suitable places along the seacoast, generally on 
Fig. 49. 
