Bird Guide: Water Birds, Game Birds, and Birds of Prey East of the Rockies

by Chester A. Reed

CABOT TERN

67. Sterna sandvicensis acuflavida. 16 in.

Head crested; bill and feet blackish, the former with a yellow tip. Adults have the crown glossy black. Young birds, and winter adults, have the crown mixed with white, and the former have blackish markings on the wings; tail forked 2.75 in. Like the majority of terns, these breed in immense colonies.

Nest.—Their two or three eggs are deposited in slight hollows in the sand. They are cream colored, boldly spotted with blackish brown (2.10 × 1.40).

Range.—Breeds on the Florida Keys, Bahamas and the West Indies; later may stray north as far as New England; winters south of the United States.