This species is common to both continents, and has been found breeding as far north as Greenland and Spitzbergen. It migrates south in the cold weather, and its return to its summer haunts is hailed as a sure indication that winter is really gone. For a time many a quiet bay and inlet is enlivened by its presence.

"Swift by the window skims the Tern,

On light and glancing wing,

And every sound which rises up

Gives token of the Spring."

On Hamilton Bay the terns make their appearance about the 10th of May, and in company with the black-headed gulls go careering around the shores in merry groups, or settle on the sand bars to rest and plume their feathers in the sun. By the end of the month they have all gone to the north and west to raise their young, but they pay us a short visit in the fall on their way south.

The range of this species is very similar to that of Forster's Tern. Gull Island in Lake Erie, St. Clair Flats, and especially Waterhen River and adjoining waters, are named among its breeding places.

D. Gunn, writing in the "Birds of Manitoba," on the habits of these birds in Lake Winnipeg, says:

"When at Lake Winnipeg, in 1862, I noticed that the terns which occupied sandy or gravelly islands made their nests as those do on the gravelly islands of Shoal Lake, while those found on the rocky island on the east side of the lake chose for their nesting places depressions and clefts in the surface of the rocks. These they carefully lined with moss, thus giving a remarkable example of the instinct which teaches them that their eggs when laid on the sand or gravel are safe, but when placed on these hard and often cold materials, a warm lining for the protection of the eggs and young birds is indispensable."

STERNA PARADISE BRÜNN.

27. Arctic Tern. (71)

Bill, carmine; feet, vermilion; plumage, like that of hirundo, but much darker below, the plumbeous wash so heavy that these parts are scarcely paler than the mantle; crissum, pure white; throat and sides of the neck, white or tinged with gray. In winter, cap defective; in young the same, upper parts patched with gray, brown or rufous; under parts paler or white; a dark bar on

the wing; outer webs of several tail feathers, dusky; bill, blackish or dusky red, with yellow on the under mandible; feet, dull orange, smaller than hirundo, but tail much longer. Length, 14-17; wing, 10-12; tail, 5-8; bill, 1.20-1.40.

HAB. - Northern hemisphere; in North America breeding from Massachusetts to the Arctic regions, and wintering southward to Virginia and California.

Eggs, two or three; laid on the bare rock or sand; drab, spotted and dashed with brown of different shades, indistinguishable from those of the common

tern.

For several reasons the terns which visit Ontario are less known than birds belonging to other classes. They are not sought after by sportsmen, and at present the number of collectors is so few that the sea swallows (as they are here called) are little molested. There are several species, such as the Common Tern, Forster's Tern, and the one we are now considering, which resemble each other so closely that the difference can only be made out on careful examination by one who is familiar with their appearance. Compared with the Common Tern, the present species is a bird of more slender make, the tail feathers being usually much longer, and the under parts of a much darker shade.

In the spring and fall flocks of terns resembling each other in general appearance are seen frequenting Hamilton Bay and the inlets along the shores of Lake Ontario. Considering the range of this species, it is likely that it is here with the others, but among the few which I have killed I have not found an Arctic.

In the collection of birds brought together under the direction of the late Prof. Hincks, and sent to the Paris Exposition in 1867, a pair of Arctic Terns was included which were said to have been procured near Toronto.

The species is of circumpolar distribution. Dr. Bell found it on Hudson's Bay, and it occurs on the coast of California, but is not named among the birds of Manitoba, being perhaps strictly maritime in its haunts.

Around the shores of Great Britain it is the most abundant of its class, and here, too, it is remarked that it does not occur inland.

Mr. Gray, in his "Birds of the West of Scotland," says regarding it: "On the western shores of Ross, Inverness and Argyleshire, there are numerous breeding places for this bird, especially on the rocky islands in the sea-lochs stretching inland, such as Loch Sunart, Loch Alsh and Loch Etive. These nurseries are equally numerous off the coast of Mull, and others of the larger islands forming the Inner Hebrides."

"In the first week in August, 1870, when travelling from North Uist to Benbecula, and crossing the ford which separates the two islands, I witnessed a very interesting habit of this tern. I had been previously told by a friend to look out for the birds which he said I should find waiting for me on the sands. Upon coming within sight of the first ford, I observed between twenty and thirty terns sitting quietly on the banks of the salt water stream, but the moment they saw us approaching they rose on the wing to meet us, and kept hovering gracefully over our heads till the pony stepped into the water. As soon as the wheels of the conveyance were fairly into the stream, the terns poised their wings for a moment, then precipitated themselves with a splash exactly above the wheel tracks and at once arose, each with a sand eel wriggling in its bill. Some had been caught by the head and were unceremoniously swallowed, but others which had been seized by the middle were allowed to drop, and were again caught properly by the head before they reached the water.

"I was told by the residents that it is a habit of the birds to be continually on the watch for passing vehicles, the wheels of which bring the sand eels momentarily to the surface, and the quick eyes of the terns enable the birds to transfix them on the spot."

SUBGENUS STERNULA BOIE.

STERNA ANTILLARUM (LESS.).

28. Least Tern. (74)

Bill, yellow, usually tipped with black; mantle, pale pearly grayish-blue, unchanged on the rump and tail; a white frontal crescent, separating the cap from the bill, bounded below by a black loral stripe reaching the bill; shafts of two or more outer primaries, black on the upper surface, white underneath; feet, orange. Young:-Cap, too defective to show the crescent; bill, dark, much of the under mandible pale; feet, obscured. Very small, only 8-9; wing, 6-6; tail, 2-34; bill, 1-14; tarsus, .

HAB.-Northern South America, northward to California and New England, and casually to Labrador, breeding nearly throughout its range.

Eggs, two or three, variable in color, usually drab, speckled with lilac and brown; left in a slight depression in the dry beach sand beyond the reach of water.

This is a refined miniature of the Common Tern, and a very handsome, active little bird. It is common along the sea coast to the south of us, but probably does not often come so far north as

all out.

Lake Ontario. Dr. Wheaton mentions its irregular occurrence on
Lake Erie, and Dr. Brodie reports it being found near Toronto. In

records rever the month of October, several years ago, I shot an immature specimen

to immature

Thlach Terms

as it rose from a piece of driftwood in Hamilton Bay, during a southerly blow of several days' duration, and that is the only time I have ever seen the species here.

In the report of the proceedings of the Canadian Institute for 1889, the following passage occurs: "A Least Tern (sterna antillarum) was shot here by Mr. Wm. Loane on September 5th. This, with Dr. Brodie's former record for Toronto, and Mr. McIlwraith's for Hamilton, makes the third for Lake Ontario."

The Little Striker, as it is called along the sea coast, we may not expect to see often in Ontario, for its principal breeding ground is on the Gulf coast, and on the islands of the Atlantic coast of Florida. The eggs are placed in a slight hollow in the sand and broken shells of the beach, which they resemble so much that they are often passed without being observed, and thus escape trouble which might otherwise befall them.

GENUS HYDROCHELIDON BOIE.

HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SURINAMENSIS (GMEL.).

29. Black Tern. (77)

Adult in breeding plumage:-Head, neck and under parts, uniform jet black; back, wings and tail, plumbeous; primaries, unstriped; crissum, pure white; bill, black. In winter and young birds, the black is mostly replaced by white on the forehead, sides of head and under parts, the crown, occiput and neck behind, with the sides under the wings, being dusky-gray: a dark. auricular patch and another before the eye; in a very early stage, the upper parts are varied with dull brown. Small; wing, 8-9, little less than the whole length of the bird; tail, 34, simply forked; bill, 1-11; tarsus, ; middle toe and claw, 1.

HAB.-Temperate and tropical America. From Alaska and the fur countries to Chili, breeding from the middle United States northward.

No nest. Eggs, on the bog, two or three; brownish-olive, splashed and spotted with brown.

Common to both continents, and extending its migrations far north. The Black Tern has been found in Iceland, and, according to Richardson, is known to breed in the fur countries. It enters Southern Ontario early in May, visiting the various feeding resorts along the route, in company with the smaller gulls, and retires to the

marshes to raise its young. At the St. Clair Flats it breeds abundantly, its eggs being often apparently neglected, but they are said to be covered by the female at night and in rough weather.

Dr. Macallum reports it as breeding also on Mohawk Island, though from being frequently disturbed and robbed of its eggs, it is not so numerous as formerly. In the North-West, according to

Macoun, it "breeds in all the marshes from Portage la Prairie westward, in less numbers in the wooded region, but generally distributed." At Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton it occurs as a regular migrant in spring and fall.

Adult male:-White, the head and hind neck tinged with yellowish-brown; primaries, black. Young: Dark brown, spotted with white; lower parts, grayish-white. Length, 30 inches.

HAB.-Coasts of the North Atlantic, south in winter to the Gulf of Mexico and Africa; breeds from Maine and the British Islands northward.

Breeds in communities on rocks near the sea. One egg, pale greenish-blue.

We have very few records of the Gannet, or Solan Goose, in Ontario, because it is a bird of the North Atlantic, where it is found on the shores on both sides, on the east, perhaps, in greater abundance than on the west.

Many years ago, an individual of this species was found in Hamilton Bay in a state of extreme exhaustion, after a severe "northeaster." In the proceedings of the Canadian Institute for 1890, it is stated, "one specimen in immature plumage was shot at Oshawa, Ontario, in 1862, by Mr. A. Dulmage," which, so far as I know, completes the list for the Province.

These birds are in the habit of breeding in colonies on large isolated rocks, which are called Gannet Rocks, wherever they occur. One of these is situated off the coast of Maine, southward of Grand