CASPIAN TERN.
STERNA CASPIA, Pallas.
Sterna caspia, Pall. Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. p. 582 (1769) ;
Naum. x. p. 18; Heivitson, ii. p. 477; Yarr. ed. 4, iii.
p. 536; Dresser, viii. p. 289.
Syloclielidon caspia, Macg. v. p. 626.
Raub-Meerschivalbe, German; Golondrina de mar grande,
Charran, Spanish.
The Caspian Tern is a rare straggler to our shores ;
almost all of its recorded occurrences in England have
taken place in the eastern counties, and the majority of
these records refer to the months of May, June, July,
and August. My personal acquaintance with this fine
Tern is very small, and (with the exception of a pair
observed on the Guadalquivir in May 1883) confined to
the Ionian Sea and the coast of Cyprus. From what I
have read and the little that I have seen of this species,
1 gather that its habits closely resemble those of the
other European Sea-Terns, as distinct from the marsh
or freshwater-loving members of the family. The
eggs are laid on the bare sand, the food consists
exclusively of fish, taken by " stoops " from the air,
the flight is graceful and buovant, and the note is harsh