CASPIAN TERN. 
64. Sterna caspia. 21 inches. 
The largest and most beautiful of the Tern family. The bill 
is large, heavy and bright red. The crest with which this 
species is adorned is black. The mantle is pearl color and 
the breast is white. Winter birds have the crown mixed with 
white, and the young are blotched with blackish in the wings 
and tail. 
Nest. —They sometimes nest in large colonies and then again 
only a few pair will be found on an island. Eggs vary from 
gray to greenish buff, marked with brown and lilac. The 
two eggs usually being laid in a hollow in the sand. 
Range. —North America, breeding from the Gulf Coast and 
Lower California to the Arctic regions. 
ELEGANT TERN. 
66. Sterna elegans. 17 inches. 
In the breeding plumage the under parts of the Terns are 
tinged with rosy, which probably first gave the birds their 
name. 
Nest. —They lay but a single egg, in a slight depression in 
the sand, creamy brown with light brown markings (2.40 x 1.40). 
Range. —Central and South America, in summer to California. 
