The Royal Tern 
Bridge” in Ceylon; and certain islands at the head of the Persian Gulf 
boast large colonies. 
The Caspian Terns breed in colonies of considerable size upon certain 
of the federal reservations and elsewhere about the lakes of central 
Oregon. The story of the association of this species with Lanis califor- 
nicus, L. delawarensis, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, and others, will make 
an epic of heroic proportions, but we will leave it to the skilled pen of 
Mr. Finley in a prospective and hopeful “Birds of Oregon.” It is worth 
mention, though, that the American colonies of II. caspia seem to be 
permanently separated from those of the Old World, and that the Ameri¬ 
can birds do not go further south in winter than about the middle of the 
Mexican coast. There is no record of the species from Central or South 
America. 
No. 284 
Royal Tern 
A. O. U. No. 65. Thaiasseus maximus (Boddaert). 
Synonym.— Cayenne Tern. 
Description. — Adult in breeding plumage: Top of head, narrowly, including 
eye, and lengthened occipital feathers, lustrous black; mantle pale pearl-blue, changing 
to white on rump and inner webs of tertials; exposed primaries chiefly blackish as to 
ground, but heavily plated with silvery gray, extensively white on concealed inner 
webs; tail, deeply forked, palest pearl-gray-tinged. Bill rich coral-red or orange- 
red, paling terminally; feet and legs black, soles yellow. Adult in winter: Similar, 
but forehead and lores chiefly white, and feathers of crown and nape decreasingly 
bordered with white; tail duller and lateral feathers reduced in length. Young of the 
year: Top of head much as in adult in winter, but occipital crest undeveloped; re¬ 
maining upperparts chiefly white, or with irregular irruptions of pearl-gray, and marked 
with small brown spots on back, and especially the inner secondaries. Tail with 
plumbeous and brownish. Length of adult 457.2-506 (18.00-20.00); wing 355.6-381 
(14.00-15.00); tail 152.4-203.2 (6.00-8.00); forked for 76.2-101.6 (3.00-4.00); bill 
61.-69.9 (2.40-2.75); depth at base 20 (.79); tarsus 135 (5.32). 
Recognition Marks. —Crow size, but much more elongated and graceful pro¬ 
portions; deeply forked tail and conspicuous red bill serve to distinguish from the 
gulls with which it is likely to be associated in winter; larger and with stouter bill than 
T. elegans. 
Nesting. —Does not breed in California. Nests in colonies on bare sand or 
beach shingle. Eggs: 2 or 3, single in tropical latitudes; ovate, palest olive-buff to 
pinkish buff, boldly round-spotted or blotched or short-scrawled with black or brownish 
black, the spots often shadowed by tawny olive. Av. size 63.5 x 44.5 (2.50 x 1.75). 
Season: March-July, according to latitude; one brood. 
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