THE CASPIAN TERN. 
The Terns are on the wing, 
See them play! 
They dart into the sky, 
They poise, and scream, and fly 
O'er the bay; 
Round the ship that sails the sea, 
Round the lighthouse o'er the lea — 
The Terns are on the wing! 
THE great Caspian Tern is the 
largest of the family, its wings, 
when extended, measuring from 
fifty to fifty-five inches in length. It 
is a bird of very irregular distribution, 
breeding in Labrador, along the Arctic 
coast, on islands in Lake Michigan, on 
the coasts of Virginia, Texas, and Cali- 
fornia, and is numerous in Australia. 
Forbes found it to be more or less 
common about Washoe Lake and the 
Humboldt Marshes, Nevada, and the 
Great Salt Lake, Utah, where it was no 
doubt breeding. He says that unlike 
most other Terns, particularly unlike 
the almost equally large Royal Tern, 
the Caspian appears to breed in isolated 
pairs instead of large colonies, its nest 
being found far removed from that of 
any other bird, and consisting merely 
of a shallow depression scooped in the 
sand, in which its two eggs are laid, 
with little if any lining, though a few 
grass or sedge blades or other vege- 
table substance are sometimes added. 
It is very bold in defense of its eggs or 
young, darting impetuously at the in- 
truder, uttering meanwhile hoarse bark- 
ing or snarling cries. 
C. C. M. 
This elegant and graceful bird is 
also known as the Imperial Tern. At 
a distance it is often mistaken for the 
Royal Tern, but may be distinguished 
from the latter by its more robust form 
and less deeply forked tail. Eggs and 
young have been taken on Cobb's 
Island, Virginia, in July. Dr. Merrill 
observed it breeding on Padre Island, 
near Fort Brown, Texas, in May. 
Large numbers of this species are said 
to breed on Pelican Island in the Gulf 
of Mexico. The eggs vary from white 
to greenish-buff, spotted and blotched 
with brown and lilac of different 
shades. 
The Terns furnish abundant interest 
while flying. They seem always to be 
on the wing, and always hungry. Like 
the Gulls, they seize their food by dart- 
ing upon it, tossing it into the air and 
catching it again, without alighting. 
They pick up from the surface of the 
water floating objects. They swim on 
the surface, rarely diving deep. They 
dart also upon fish from above, and 
"one plows the water in flight with a 
knifelike beak in hopes of running 
through a shoal of fishes." 
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