271 
1870. 
1874. 
July 4. 
l87o. 
May 7. 
It5. 
17. 
Sterna antillarum. 
A single pair Plying (Muskegat Tsland,Mass.). 
Found four nests on the Ipswich sandhillsin the 
space of a few acres. The nests wore slight hollows in 
the bare white sand; two of them contained three eggs 
each, another two (all fresh) while in a fourth vras a 
young bird a few days old and covered with white dovm 
and an egg nearly hatched, ’ 
Addenda 1870 from F.S.Atkinson. 
A small colony on the Ipswich Sandhills. Pomd 
four nesTis xn an area of two or throe acres. The eggs 
lay in slight hollows in the bare sand. In three of the 
nests they were fresh, the fourth contained a young bird 
just hatched and one fresh egg. Greatest number of 
eggs in any nest three. Birds rather shy, hovoring 
over the breeding ground , making a great noise. All 
that I shot were females. Their fliPht was extremely 
graceful, notes a harsh croak and a shrill oit . ^7hon 
flying they looked no larger than Swallows. They did 
not hover over dead or wounded eo mpanions. 
Nine flying about the harbor near the wharves. They 
look much smaller than the other Terns, flap their wings 
more quickly and continuously, plunge from higher eleva¬ 
tions (usually about thirty foot), and if they miss their 
aim rise quickly and drop again, frequently making throe 
or four plunges in half a minute. Ken poising they 
flap their wings quickly like a Kingfisher. when 
one was shot it companions paid no attention to it 
passing by without stopping, even when the bird was woun- 
hover however, that they do sometimes 
hover in autumn. They have two notes, one loud and 
^ery like that of the White-bellied Swallow, 
the other a scolding chatter resembling that of the Wl- 
son’s Tern but weaker. (Nantucke*). 
A single bird (Chatham, Mass.). 
Large numbers on a sand spit (Chatham, ’’ass.). 
iian/islLT'' Preparing to breed on Momomoy 
ki^Mc h + ‘n ordinary note is killic , killic, 
but when chasing one another they utter a loud 
Tern cloth-ripping one of the Roseate 
Tern. Sometimes a pair would shoot over the beach with 
set wings inclining gracefully to either side, the male 
uttering its cries incessantly. At such times they flew 
reminding me strongly of Chimney 
swifts under similar conditions. Like the Chimney Swifts 
frequently seen flying together. 
IxcLfir^ r®'’ closely resemble Swallows 
a schooi orsmail 
delight. Oecasionaiiv^o^ ^ to dance in the air with 
flying Slowly with a very jerky^motior 
xng to and fro with fish in the?r b^fi. 
