A dictionary of British birds : reprinted from Montagu's Ornithological dictionary, and incorporating the additional species described by Selby; Yarrell, in all three editions, and in natural-history journals / compiled and edited by Edward Newman.
- George Montagu
- Date:
- 1866
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of British birds : reprinted from Montagu's Ornithological dictionary, and incorporating the additional species described by Selby; Yarrell, in all three editions, and in natural-history journals / compiled and edited by Edward Newman. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![of Burton-on-Trent, records, at p. 3755, the occurrence of this bird at Tutbur3', near that town: the bird is now in the col- lection of Mr. H. W. Desvoeux. This is the only record I have seen ot the occur- rence of the species in England. Wilson records it as native in the United States, and Gould in Austi-alia; and Dr. Nau- nmnn, in his ‘ Birds of Germany,’ men- tions a specimen killed at Proedd, near Magdeburgh. Mr. Audubon, in his ‘ Birds of America,’ has given some interesting particulars of the habits of this species. “ On landing,” he writes, “ I felt for a mo- ment as if the birds would raise me from the ground, so thick were they all round, and so quick the motion of their wings : their cries were indeed deafening. ; . . This species never forms a nest of any sort, but deposits its three eggs in a slight cavity which it scoops in the sand under the trees : several individuals which had not commenced laying I saw scratch the sand with their feet in the manner of the common fowl while seai’ching for food. In the course of this operation they fre- quently seated themselves in the shallow basin, to try how it fitted their form, or find out what was still wanted to ensure their comfort: the eggs measure two inches in length by one and a half in breadth ; have a smooth shell; the ground- colour a pale cream, sparingly marked with various tints of lightish umber and lighter marks of purple.”] [Tern, Striated.— Mr. Yarrell informs us that this is the young of the Sandwich Tern.] [Tern, Whiskered.—Yarrell, iii. 517; Hew- itson, cxxxiv. 483. Sterna leucopareia, GouM, Birds of Europe ; Temm. Man. d’Ornith. ii. 740 ; Yarrell, 1. c.—“ The bill is red, inclining to dark brown on the edges of both mandibles towards the point; the bill rather stout, with the inferior angle of the under mandible prominent, an approximation to the form of the under mandible in the Gull-billed Tern. The irides brownish black; forehead, crown, and nape black; from the base of the upper mandible, in a line below the eye to the ear-coverts, a stripe of white, forming the whisker or moustache; back, wing- coverts, upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers uniform dark grey, almost slate-grey; first quill-feather lead-grey on the outer web, and over a considerable portion of that part of the inner web nearest to the white shaft, the other part of the inner web white; the outer webs of the other pri- mary and secondary feathers lighter grey than the inner webs; chin and throat greyish white ; neck and breast slate-grey. and as dark as the back; abdomen, thighs, and flanks lead-grey; under wing and tail-coverts white; legs, toes, and mem- branes red, the membranes deeply in- dented. From the point of the beak to the first feathers on the forehead one inch and one-eighth ; from the point of the beak to the end of the middle or short tail-feathers ten inches and a half, to the end of the outside and longest tail-feather one inch more, making the whole length eleven inches and a half. From the carpal joint of the wing to the end of the first quill-feather, which is the longest, nine inches and a quarter; length of the tai’sus seven-eighths of an inch; of the middle toe three-quarters of an inch ; claw of the middle toe three-eighths of an inch, strong and curved. Adult birds in winter have the forehead, crown, occiput, neck, and all the under parts pure wdiite ; a black spot behind the eyes; mantle, back, wings, tail-coverts and tail-feathers uniform ash- grey; bill, legs, and feet deep lake-red. Young birds of the yeai’ have the crown of the head Varied with red and brown; oc- ciput and eai'-coverts gi-eyish black; the feathers of the back, scapulars, and se- condiuies brown in the middle, bordered and tipped with dirty flesh-colour; tail- feathers blackish gi-ey towards the end, but tipped with white; beak brown, red at the base ; legs and feet flesh-colour.” — Yarrell, iii. 518. Five or six examples of this bird have been killed in England; the first is that mentioned by Mr. Yarrell as shot at Lyme Regis in August, 1836; and the last is recorded by Mr. Rodd at p. 3280 of the ‘ Zoologist ’ for 1851: it was shot near Trescoe Abbey, on one of the Scilly Isles, in August of that year. It has repeatedly been killed in Europe accord- ing to Temminck. Mr. Yarrell describes the egg as “ asparagus-green, spotted with brownish black and a few spots of bluish gi-ey.”] [Tern, Whitewinged Black. — Yarrell, iii. 532. Sterna leucopiera, Temm. Man. d’Or- nith. ii. 747, and iv. 403 ; Thompson, Birds of Ireland, iii. 307.— “ An adult male spe- cimen in its summer plumage has the beak reddish brown; the irides grej’ish black; the head, neck, an,d middle of the back black, the feathers becoming lighter in colour towards the rtimi); upper tail- coverts and tail-feathers white; anterior por- tion of the outside of the wing white, pass- ing into a light grey on the laVger wing- coverts; the first, second, third, and some- times as many of the first five of the pri- mary wing-feathers, black, the number depending on ago; these have all white shafts, and with a considerable portion of white along the base of the broad inner](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28089935_0377.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
