sterna macrura. 
1870. 
July 1. 
1874. 
July 7. 
1875. 
July 20. 
Quite scarce as compared with the other two. Bred 
in a separate colony on a strip of perfectly bare sand. 
ESgs laid usually in a slight hollov/, either an accidental 
depression , or one s cratched by the birds, but some¬ 
times they v:ere deposited on a perfectly smooth surface. 
The usual number was three, but in one nest we found four. 
Common brooding on a bare sand bar apart from the 
Wilson’s and Roseate Terns. Habits precisely like that 
of the Wilson’s Torn. (Muskegat Is land,Mass. ), 
A single specimen killed by Maynard on the sand neck 
at Muskegat, 
About fifteen pairs breeding on Green Islands, 
Gasko Bay, Maine. I concealed myself in the long grass 
and in an hour shot six. There vrero about half as many 
Wilson’s Terns on this Island, the difference in the 
notes of these speifeies is slight, and although I noticed 
the cry of each bird particularly before shooting it, 
I am not sure that I could distinguish it in all cases. 
I should say,However, that v^hile S. macrura has all the 
notes of _S_.hirundo, that they are harsher and more ran— 
caus in the latter species. I could not detect the slij^ 
test difference in flight or actions. Neither these 
nor the Wilson’s Terns would hover over one of their 
kind that fell on land, although thet did so over a Gull 
that dropped in the water. The Arctic Terns v^hen woun¬ 
ded were decidedly vicious and bit my hand forcibly; 
this I have never seen the other species do. Both sex¬ 
es of the Wilson’s and the Arctic Tern incubate as is 
shown by their bare spots. My boatman found a young 
Tern vAich I believe to toe the Arctic on the Beach at the 
foot of the Cliffs; Itt kept up a querulous cry of hun¬ 
ger or distress, and vrhen put dovm appeared unable or 
unwilling to walk. 
