Storna paradisoa. 
1870. 
July 1. 
Brad in company with L.hirundo^ but worn nnt. npiaTiy 
so abundant. Nost perhaps on the average a little more 
bulky, but otherwise quite similar. Never found them 
near the beach, however, as v/ith the other birds, but al¬ 
ways on the ivy-covered ridges. (Muskegat), 
a it 
Not nearly as numbrous as the Wilson’s Terns but 
still abundant. Easily distingusihed frwn the other 
species while flying by the long graceful tail, harsh 
note, and slov/er, more direct flight; mingled indiscrim¬ 
inately v/ith Wilson’s Torn (Muskegat Is land,Mass .), 
1874. 
June 26. 
Among numerous Terns fishing along the shore below 
the Bluffs this species was in the proportion of about 
one to every t?/-enty-five Wilson’s Terns. It looks 
smaller than he Wilson’s on the wing, the tail longer, 
the back pure v/hite. Its vring strokes are also slower 
and more gracefully performed. Its ordinary note is a 
soft mellov/ hew—it slightly like that of Aosialitis semi— 
palmatus (NantuckotK 
“ 30. 
Shot eleven and could have killed many more at the 
mouth of the Harbor. I identified three notes, the com¬ 
monest a mellow pheu like that of the Pn-rpin ypi-rtiry ffia 
second, hew-i^; the third, a noise exactly like that 
produced by forcibly tearing a strong piece of cotton 
cloth. This Tern is rather shyer than the Wilson’s and 
as a rule will hover over dead birds of only its ovm 
species (Nantucket), 
July 6, 
These with Wilson’s Terns flew all day close to the 
shore literally in sv/arms, during a heavy north-easter. 
We killed thirty-three of the present species. (Nantucket. 
“ 7. 
Much more abundant on Muskegat than in 1870 , and 
now representing certainly one half of the colony*of 
Terns breeding there. 
“ 9. 
Saw several at Wood’s Holl, 
“1875? 
July 9. 
Several about the Bay (Marston’s MiHs, Mass.). 
“ 20 . 
About tv/enty pairs apparently breeding on the larger 
of the Hreen Islands near Portland, Maine; they vrere so 
shy that I did not succeed in killing one but I am sure 
of my identification as they repeatedly uttered the cloth¬ 
ripping note. They kept apart from the other Terns and 
sometimes started off together flying in a close flock. 
