268 SOOTY TERN.
that I can say is, that before they take their departure, the young are
greyish-brown above, dull white beneath, and have the tail very short.
' At Bird Key we found a party of Spanish Eggers from Havannah.
They had already laid in a cargo of about eight tons of the eggs of this
Tern and the Noddy. On asking them how many they supposed they
had, they answered that they never counted them, even while selling them,
but disposed of them at seventy-five cents per gallon ; and that one turn
to market sometimes produced upwards of two hundred dollars, while it
took only a-week to sail backwards and forwards and collect their cargo.
Some eggers, who now and then come from Key West, sell their eggs at
twelve and a half cents the dozen ; but wherever these eggs are carried,
they must soon be disposed of and eaten, for they become putrid in a few
weeks.
On referring to my journals once more, I find the following remarks
with reference to the Sooty Tern. It would appear that at some period
not very remote, the Noddy, Sterna stolida, must have had it in contemplation
to appropriate to itself its neighbour's domains; as on examination
of this island, several thousand nests of that bird were found
built on the tops of the bushes, although no birds of the species were
about them. It is therefore probable that if such an attempt was made
by them, they were defeated and forced to confine themselves to the neighbouring
island, where they breed by themselves, although it is only a few
miles distant. That such interferences and conflicts now and then occur
among different species of birds, has often been observed by other persons,
and in several instances by myself, particularly among Herons. In
these cases, right or wrong, the stronger party never fails to dislodge the
weaker, and keep possession of the disputed ground.
STERNA FULIGINOSA, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 804—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of
Birds of the United States, p. 355.
SOOTY TERN, STERNA FULIGINOSA, Lath. Synops. vol. vi. p. 352.—Wils. Amer.
Ornith. vol. viii. p. 145. pi. 72. fig. 7—NtUtall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 284.
Adult Male. Plate CCXXXV.
Bill longer than the head, strong, slender, nearly straight, compressed,
very acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched,
the ridge broad and convex at the base, narrowed towards the end, the
SOOTY TERN. 269
sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute. Nasal groove
extended to beyond half the length of the bill, slightly inflected towards
the edge; nostrils basal, linear, direct, pervious. Lower mandible with
the angle very narrow, acute, extending to a little beyond the middle,
the dorsal line straight, the sides convex, the sharp edges inflected, the
tip very acute.
Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed; neck of moderate length;
body slender; feet very small, wings and tail very long. Tibia bare for
a short space; tarsus very short, slender, roundish, covered anteriorly
with small scutella, laterally and behind with reticulated rather indistinct
scales; toes small, slender, the first very small, the third longest, the
fourth nearly as long, the second much shorter, all scutellate above, the
anterior united by reticulated webs, having an incurved margin; claws
curved, compressed, acute, that of hind toe smallest, of middle toe by
much the largest, and having the inner edge thin and dilated.
Plumage soft, close, blended, very short on the head ; the feathers in
general broad and rounded. Wings very long, narrow and pointed ; primary
quills tapering but rounded, the first longest, the rest rapidly graduated
; secondary short, broad, rather acute, the inner more tapering.
Tail long, very deeply forked, of twelve feathers, of which the outer are
tapering, the middle rounded and short.
Bill and feet black. Iris chestnut. Forehead white; lores, upper
part of the head, the hind neck and all the upper parts, deep black
glossed with blue, excepting the edges of the wings and the lateral tailfeathers,
which are white, the latter with the inner web towards the end
dusky. All the lower parts and the sides of the neck are pure white.
Length to end of tail 16£ inches, to end of wings 15|, to end of claws
11^ ; extent of wings 3 4 | ; wing from flexure 12 ; tail to the end 7|, to
the fork 3 | ; bill along the ridge 1£, along the edge of lower mandible %fv\
tarsus J | ; middle toe it s c ^ a w iV
The Female is similar to the Male.