Genus STERNA, Linn.
G en . C har. B ill as lo n g o r lo n g er th an the head, n e a rly straig h t, compressed, d raw n to a
fine point, w ith b o th mandibles o f eq u al len g th , an d th e u p p e r slig h tly co n v e x ; tomia
r a th e r in tra cted an d sh a rp -ed g ed ; low e r mandible hav in g a promin en t an g le n e a r its
m iddle p a rt. Nostrils basal, lateral, lin e a r, oblong, pervious. Wings v e ry long, acumin
a te , th e first q uill-feather th e longest. Tail m o re o r less forked. Legs hav in g th e tibiae
n ak ed fo r a sh o rt space above th e tarsal jo in t. Tarsi short. Feet o f fo u r toes, th re e
before, one b e h in d ; th e th re e fo rm e r u n ite d b y a m em b ran e more o r less scalloped, the
h in d toe small a n d free. Claws a rch ed an d sharp.
C A S P IA N TERN.
S te rn a Caspia, Pall. .
L ’Hiro n d elle de M e r Tschegrava.
T his large and powerful species is dispersed over the northern shores of Africa, the eastern portion of Asia,
and all the temperate parts of Europe, where it appears to evince a partiality to inland seas rather than to
the wide ocean, and hence we find it most abundant in the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas, from
the latter of which it takes its name. Of its visits to the shores of Great Britain the instances are but few,
and at no regular or definite periods.
In size this noble bird is not exceeded by any other member of its race: it is even larger than many of
the Gulls, from which tribe the Terns differ much in their structure, and are moreover destined to fill a very
different station in the scheme of creation.
Its food consists of fish, crustacea, mollusca, &c.
The sexes of the Caspian Tern offer 110 external difference in the colouring of the plumage, but the crown
of the head, which is white in winter, becomes on the approach of spring of a deep rich and glossy black,
which change is common to both sexes.
The nest is merely a hollow scraped in the sand or shingle; the eggs are four in number, and we have
ourselves received them from the small shingly islands at the mouth of the Baltic, which, from the numerous
specimens we have seen from that locality, we conceive must form one of the stations to which the Caspian
Tern resorts in great numbers for the purpose of breeding: it doubtless also breeds on most of the shores
of the Black and other seas before mentioned.
In summer the forehead, crown of the head, and occiput, are black; back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and
tail pearl grey; quills greyish brown; the remainder of the plumage pure white; bill rich vermilion; legs
and feet black.
The young of the year are clouded and transversely barred with marks of brown, much after the manner
of the young of the Sandwich and other European Terns.
The Plate represents a male in summer of the natural size.