368 ARCTIC TERN.
The Arctic Tern is found with us on the eastern coasts of the United
States only, where it appears, from the shores of New Jersey northwards,
in autumn, and whence it departs in early spring. No sooner have the
winter tempests subsided, than it is observed gliding along the coast, together
with many other birds. In the beginning of March, you see it
following the sinuosities of the shores, some passing directly from the
Sable Islands off the Bay of Fundy and Newfoundland into Baffin's Bay;
others, younger, and unwilling to encounter the perils of a more extended
flight, passing up the Gulf of St Lawrence, either through the Straits of
Cansso, or the broader channel between Cape Breton and Newfoundland,
and betaking themselves to the Magdaleine Islands and the coasts of
Labrador.
While at American Harbour in June 1833, my son and some of his
companions met with a low rocky island, on which hundreds of these
Terns had deposited their eggs. No other species was seen there; the
birds were mostly sitting, and, on the landing of the party, they all rose
as if in the greatest consternation, hovered over their heads, and left their
eggs to the mercy of the intruders who carried off a basketful of them,
with a few of the birds themselves.
On the 18th of the same month, the Arctic Terns were found breeding
on another island in considerable numbers; many dozens of their eggs
were gathered, and delicious food indeed they proved to be. The full
number of their eggs is three, but as it was early in the season many had
only two. Their average dimensions were an inch and a quarter in
length, and five-eighths in their greatest breadth; they were oval, but
rather sharp at the smaller ends ; their ground-colour a light-olive, irregularly
covered with patches of dark umber, larger towards the round
end. They were deposited on the rocks wherever there was any grass,
but no nest had been formed for their reception. They differed extremely
in their colour, indeed quite as much as those of the Sandwich Tern.
As we approached the little island, they all rose in the air, and flew high
over our heads, screaming loudly, which they continued to do until we
left the place. Several were shot, and as each fell the rest immediately
plunged through the air after it. Whenever one was wounded so slightly
as to be able to make off, it was lost to us, and the rest followed it.
Only a very few of those which we saw and shot had the bill entirely red,
and those which had were evidently older birds. Some exhibited a considerable
portion of the point tinged with brownish-black, yet all of them
ARCTIC TERN. 369
could easily be distinguished from the Sterna Hirundo, first by their
smaller size, shorter tarsi, more delicate bill, and greater curvature of the
outer part of their wings; and secondly, by the leaden tint of their lower
parts, from the neck to the tail, those parts in Sterna Hirundo being
pure white. The back is also of a deeper blue in the Arctic Tern.
The long tail-feathers were much shorter in the females than in the males,
but M. TEMMINCK is wrong in saying that this bird has the tail proportionally
longer than that of other species, the Roseate Tern having it of
much greater length, considering its diminutive size.
At the beginning of the first autumn, the plumage of the young'so much
resembles that of the young of Sterna Hirundo, that a person, not paying
attention to the tarsi and feet, might readily confound them together. Yet
even at this early age, there are strong indications of the bluish tint on the
under parts. The longest tail-feathers at this period do not extend more
than two inches beyond the rest; the upper parts of the body are mottled
with brown, as in all the other species, and in Gulls. The mantle of this, as
of all other Terns, assumes its permanent hue before any part of the wings.
On the 5th of August, in Labrador, the young birds were gambolling
along with their parents, over the shores of Bras d'Or Harbour, and when
we left that country the Terns still remained, so that I am unable to
state at what particular period they commence their journey southward.
The notes of this species resemble the syllables creek, creek, "and are
often repeated while the bird is on wing. During autumn it follows
the sinuosities of the shores of the bays and inlets, ascending against the
ebb, and^ returning to meet the tide, which enables it to procure its food
in succession while it keeps on its course. I have only farther to mention
a curious fact, which is, that all the Terns which breed in the northern
parts of the United States, and in regions still nearer the pole, sit closely
on their eggs, while the small species that breed to the southward incubate
only during night, or in rainy weather.
STERNA ARCTICA, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. part ii. p. 742.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of
Birds of the United States, p. 354.—Swains, and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer.
part ii. p. 414.
ARCTIC TERN, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 275.
Adult Male in Spring. Plate CCL.
Bill about the same length as the head, slender, tapering, compressed,
nearly straight, very acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line slightvoi,.
in. A a