178 LEAST TERN.
swallows it onwt a » Oath, grpundit walk, prettily, witl, short steps,
keeping its tail somewhat raised.
' * 'ItHfrt, Synopsis si, BirdB «¿United States, p. 355.
Tkks, Stshxa m.n,:tITO./ Amor. Onuth. vol. vii. p. 8»,pi. 60,fig45^
S i i t k s t TEasì WitpiM, Manual, vol. & p. 280.
'"' A i t ì t j s l f c ^ « *
Bill about the length of the h e a ^ Render, taperwg, ; much cpmjpressed,
nearly straight, extremely attenuated M H H H
mandible with the dorsal line sUghtly arched, the: B | rather .broafl
and'convex ai the basefnarc?w towards the en^, | e ^ i d e s nearly ,ereet,
the edges sharp and d i rect M^al groove shor t ,pending to afourth
of t h e i n g t h óf the bill ; nostrils basal, linear, direct, p e i v i ^ , l ^ H
mandible with the angle extnmelv «.uro», very acute, oxt?ndn,g t.V
the middle, t t e dorsal line straightash, the s$es er?pt, the edges sharp
and inflected, the tap' extremely acutp f , , ^ ^ y y
H e a d of m o d e r a t e s i z e , o v a i e I n e c k s h o r t ; b o d y v e r y s l e n d e r ; feet
s m a l l Tibia b a r e R ^ ^ ^ H short, slender, eompressod,
c o v e r e d a n t e r i o r l y w i t h smal l scmtoUn, laterally a n d b e h i n d w i t h p f j j
c u l a r scales ; t o e s small, . lender , t h e f , r , t . o x w e m « ^ - s m a l l , tj| p t h m l
l o n g e s t , t h e f o u r t h ^ ^ ^ ^ R Q 1 H B H th e B j
t è r i ò r u n i t e d by ret iculated w e b s h aving a d e e p l y c o n c a v e margin.
® p w s arched, | 'compreSse<J acute, t h a ® Hind t o e s m a l l e r ò / m.ddle
t o e : b y m u c h t h e I B B and h a v i n g ite i n n e r e d g e t h i n a n d dilated.
Plumage soft, close, blended, very short on the, £>re part the
head I oie'feathers in general broad and rounded.^ Wings g g tog,
narrow, and pointed; primary quills tapering, straight, the: first longest,
the next uve-twelfths 'of an inch shorter, the rest rapidly graduated;
L . n d a r y qmlls'short, broad, incurved, murowod toward., the end, the
inner straight Tail rathej long, very deeply forked, the lateral
feathers extending an inch and spven-twelfths beyond fee fork
Bill light jjSllowish-orssnge, its tips black, but the eterne, points
horn colour Iris W , feet light orange-red, the bare part ^ feg
tibia, dusky ; claws black. On the forehead, a triangular white pat!&
extending to the middle of .ho eye ; upper part, of the head and %
nape, with a line from thee^e to the bill, d<;ep black S. J d | s , 9 f the heiid,
LEAST TEEN. 179
fore-neck and lower1 parte, pure white ; back and wings very pale bluishgrey
; first two quills with the outer web grovisb-black, and rather
less than h a l f * their inner web o f the same colour, the rest white,
extending to about, half an inch from their extremities. Tail white
in summer, of a paler tint than the back at other times.
Length to end of tail 8f inches, « end of wings 8 | , fe end of claws
7i, to end: of shortest taiWoathevs 7 ; extent of wings 18| ; wing from
fiexure (¡¡i ;' tail 3J ; bill along the ridge 7J twelfths, along the edge
of lower mandible tarsus ; middle toe its claw A- .
The female is a little smaller than the male, but otherwise similar.
YouVig fledged'. Plate CC.TXIX. Kg. 2.
Hill greenish-black. Iris dusky. Feet pale yellowish-orange. All
the under parte dull greyish-white, as are the upper parts including
the tail ; the hind part of the head streaked with, dusky , on the back
and rump the feathers with a Curved marginal band of greyish-brown ;
primary quills greyish-brown, the outer two darker. At this period the
t a i l | f | even, eafih feather narrowly margined with greyish-white.
I n a male bird the tongue is 10 twelfths long, slender, triangular,
tapering to a point, horny beneath, emarginate and papillate at the
base. On the palate are live longitudinal ridges. The posterior aperture
nf the nai-es is l ine», 7 twelfths long. Thè eesophàgus is 4 inches
2 twelfths l'ong, very wide, its average diameter on the neck 4J twelfths,
witiiin the thorax 9 twelfths ; ! it is exceedingly thin and delicate,, its
muscular fibres scarcely apparent, unless closely examined. The provent.
riculns is only a quarter of an inch long. Th.; stomach is 9
twelfths long, 8 twelfths broad, i t s lateral muscles of considerable size,
the cuticuiair lining dense; tough; longitudinally rugou*', and of a reddish
brówn colour, as in gulls. Contents of stomach and oesophagus,
small fishes, one of them 2 inches long.: The intestine is 14 inches
long, its diameter 14 twelfths. The coeca are 2 twelfths long, nearly
1 twelfth ih diameter;
The trachèa i s 2 inches and 4 twelfths long, its diameter 2 twelfths
at the top, diminishing 'to 1 twelfth ; Bs rings about 105, unossified;
its lateral mil,-soles modera«-, as ¿ré the sterna-trachea!, and single pair
of inferior laryngeal. The bronchial half-rings about 25.
,i 2