ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
THE GULLS AND THEIR ALLIES
The Terns
(Subfamily Siemintz).—The Sea Swallows, as the Terns are often called, number between fifty and sixty species, distributed among nearly a dozen genera, the largest {Sterna) embracing the typical Terns with over thirty species. The characters separating them from the Gulls have already been given, and like the Gulls they are widely distributed throughout the world, being abundant along oceanic shores, as also about many inland lakes, ponds, and rivers.
They are in general smaller and slimmer than the Gulls, the extremes of length being six and twenty-two inches, with an average length of between twelve and eighteen inches. The coloration of the plumage is also quite like that of their relatives, which they likewise resemble in feeding habits except that they plunge more into the water for their usually living prey.
The animated scene presented by a flock of Terns is an interesting spectacle, as”dozens dart down at once, cleaving the water like darts, and, rising again into the air, shake the salt spray from their feathers by a single , energetic movement, and make ready for a fresh plunge.”On the wing the Terns are strong, rapid, and graceful, but, as Hudson says, the flight is”unlike that of any other bird, whether of the sea or land; it is more airy, and suited to the pale, slender, aerial figure; buoyant and slightly wavering, it reminds one a little of the high, apparently uncertain flight of some large-winged butterflies; and it is in perfect harmony, not only with the slimmer form, but with the idea of a being whose life is spent amid wind and mist and fluctuating wave."
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