H4 
BIRDS. 
[Clafs II. 
GENUS XIV. T E R N S. J 
SPECIES I. The greater Tern. Plate JL*. 
The fea {wallow. tVil. orn. 352. 
Sterna major. Briffon av. VI. 203. 
Tab . 19. Fig. 1. 
T HIS kind weighs four ounces, one 
quarter : the length is fourteen inches ; 
the breadth thirty : the tail and feet are 
of a fine crimfon; the former tipt with black, 
flrait, flendtr, and fharp pointed : the crown, and 
hind part of the head, black : the throat, and 
whole under nde of the body, white : the upper 
part, and the coverts of the wings, a fine pale 
grey : the tail confifts of twelve feathers j the 
exterior edges of the three outmoft are grey, the 
reft white : the exterior, on each fide, is two iq- 
Raii fyn. av. 131. 
Sterna hirundo. Lin. Jyft. 137. 
Sterna. Gefner av. 586. 
ches longer than the others : in flying, the bird 
frequently clofes them together, fo as to make 
them appear one flender feather. Thefe birds 
frequent the fea fhores, banks of lakes and rivers : 
they feed on fmall fifh, and water infers ; hover¬ 
ing over the water, and fuddenly darting into it, 
to catch up their prey. They breed among fmall 
tufts of rufhes \ and lay three or four eggs, of a 
dull olive color, fpotted with black. All the birds 
of this genus are very clamorous. 
t A name thefe birds $re known by in the North of England-, and 
which we fubftitute inftead of the old compound one of Sea Swallow 
which was given them on account of their forked tails. 
SPECIES II. The Idler Tern. Plate £2. 
Leffer lea fwallow. JVil. orn. 353. 
Sterna minor. Briffon av. VI. 206. 
Tab. 19. Fig. 2. 
T H E manners, haunts, and food of this 
are the fame with the former : but the 
fpecies is more numerous. The weight 
is only two ounces, five grains : the length eight 
inches and a half j the breadth nineteen and a 
half. The bill is yellow, tipt with black: the 
forehead and cheeks white : from the eyes to the 
bill is a black line : the top of the head, and hind 
part black : the breaft, and under fide of the bo¬ 
dy, cloathed with feathers fo clofely fet together. 
Rail Jyn. av. 131. 
Laras pifcator, Gefner av. 537, 
Fig. 588. 
and of fuch an exquifite rich a glofs, and fb fine a 
white, that no fatin can be compared to it: the 
back, and wings of a pale grey: the tail fhort, 
lefs forked than that of the former, and white: the 
legs yellow : the irides dufky. Thefe two fpe¬ 
cies are very delicate, and feem unable to bear the 
inclemency of the weather, on our fhores*, during 
winter : for we obferve they quit their breeding 
places at the approach of it $ nor retire till fpring. 
* North Wales. • 
SPECIES 
