560 BIRDS—-LARIDA. 
fish among the Muskegzt ‘tide-rips’; and troops of Snew-Buntings whirl over the bleak 
sand-hills.” 
STERNA FoORSTERI Nutt. 
FE orster’s Kern. 
Sterna forstcri, WHEATON, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 515; Reprint, 
1875, 15.— LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 18; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. 
Hist., i, 1879, 187; Reprint, 2i1—DuRy and FREEMAN, ib., iii, 1880, 104; Reprint, 
5. 
Sterna forsieri, NUTTALL, Man., ii, 1234, 274. 
Like the last; larger, tail longer than wings. Wing of adult, 94-103; tail, 64-8, thus 
often beyond the extreme of fluviatilis, and nearly as in macrura; bill, 1% (14-12), and 
about 2-5 deep at base (in fluviatilis rarely if ever so deep); tarsus seldom down to 4; 
whole foot, about 2. Little or no plimbeous wash below; inner web of the outer tail 
feather darker than outer web of the same. Young and winter birds may be distin- 
guished from fluviatilis at gunshot ronge; the black cap is almost entirely wanting, and 
in its place is a broad black band on each side of the head through the eye; several 
lateral tail feathers are largely dusky ou the imner webs; their outer webs are white. 
Habitat, North America at large. Middle America. South America to Brazil. Only 
known to breed in the higher latitudes. 
Not very common spring and fall migrant. Not recorded from the 
lake shore. Mr. Langdon gives it asa rare migrant in the vicinity of 
Cincinnati, where Messrs. Dury and Freeman note six specimens taken 
May 4, 1879. My own acquaintance with the bird in this vicinity is 
limited to a single specimen taken in the fall of 1861 or 1862. Doubtless 
it has been confounded with other species, as no adequate and generally 
accessible description of the adult was had until 1858 (Lawrence), or of the 
young until 1862 (Cowes). 
This Tern may possibly breed in Northern Ohio, as it has been dis- 
eovered breeding in Northern Illinois by Mr. Nelson, who gives the fol- 
lowing description of its nesjing and eggs: 
‘¢ Although I have been aware that S. forstert nested in this vicinity for several years, 
it was not until the middle of June, 1876, that I had the pleasure of examining one of 
their nests. While we were collecting eggs among the wild rice patches, on Grass Lake, 
June 14th, Mr. Douglas observed a pair of these Terns hovering near a small patch of 
Saggitaria leaves growing in several feet of water, and rowing to the spot found the 
nest, which was a loosely built structure of coarse pieces of reeds resting upon a mass of 
floating plants and concealed from view by the surrounding leaves. Upon the nest was 
a single young bird, about to scramble inte the water, but upon seeing Mr. Douglas it 
erouched to avoid being observed, aud was captured. A thorough search at the time 
failed to revealany other young cones, so the adults, which had been dartiug and scream- 
ing about this heap, were secured, with a second: pair which had espoused the cause of 
their companions. Their anxiety we afterwards found to be the proximity of an unfin- 
ished nest, similarly situated. That evening we found and secured two more young 
