S O O T Y T E E N.
Sterna fuliginosa, LATHAM. WILSON. BUONAPARTE.
" " AUDUBON. NUTTALL.
Onychoprion fulrginosus, ( JOULD.
Sterna— ? luihgitwsa—Dusky—.smoky.
T H I S Tern is mentioned as visiting Georgia, Florida, and Cuba, also
Bermuda, the Island of Ascension, Christmas Island, and the Tortugas.
Audubon relates a murderous onslaught made on the birds there by
some sailors "who were with him, reminding one of the proceedings
formerly at the same place of the Buccaniers. It belongs, moreover,
to Australia and the islands of the South Seas. In Europe it has
occurred in Germany.
A Tern of this species was shol in October, 1852, at Tutbury, near
Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and was secured for the collection of
I I . W. DPS Va-nx, Esq., of Dratelow Hall.
In Ireland, two have been procured at Wexford.
They are migratory in their movements, arriving in May, and leaving
again by the end of August.
These birds assemble in vast numbers in the places where they
breed, and live together in the closest companionship and seeming
friendship. They have been met with three hundred miles from land:
' How little do they think upon the dangers of the seas!' Some,
however, have appeared fatigued, settling on the rigging of ships.
They hover, it is said, at times close to the water, when seeking
for food.
They prey on small fish.
No nest is formed, but the eggs arc laid in the sand under trees
near the sea-shore, the birds scratching a hollow with their feet, and
frequently fitting themselves into it to see that it will answer the
purpose.
The eggs are smooth, and of a pale cream-colour, slightly marked