i86 
NATURE STUDY. 
ern journey is begun, most of the birds going south of the 
United States. The range of Wilson’s Tern includes the 
greater part of the northern hemisphere in America, breed¬ 
ing locally from Texas to Greenland, inland, as well as on 
the coast. 
The Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisecea ), as the name 
would imply, is the northern species, breeding from Mas¬ 
sachusetts to the arctic regions in North America. 
The Roseate Tern (Sterna dougalli ), though having a 
wide range, is in America confined to the Atlantic coast, 
from Florida to Maine, wintering in the tropics. It is a 
shyer bird than the two preceding species, except when 
nest or young are in danger. These birds are all about 
15 inches long, though the tails of the Arctic and Roseate 
Terns are longer and more forked than the Common’s. 
The Roseate has also a pinkish tinge on the white breast 
during the summer. The Common Tern has a red bill 
with a black tip. The Arctic’s is all red and the Roseate’s, 
all black, but the matter of differentiation of these three 
terns by lawful opera-glass methods is extremely difficult. 
The question of comparative size and dimensions is one 
that no two observers can ever agree about. The bird will 
not keep his bill still, and sunlight and shadow make it 
turn from red to black in very tantalizing fashion. In the 
fall the bills all become black and the foreheads white, 
while the immature birds complicate matters by getting 
black patches on their hitherto white heads, and showing 
black bills that to one’s expectant eye look very roseate. 
