Fig. 63.–Common Tern. Sterna fluviatilis. × ¼.
One only of the smaller species allied to the last group has blackish bill and feet, namely S. longipennis,[[202]] occurring from Lake Baikal and Ceylon to Kamtschatka, Japan, and New Guinea. Of the remainder the Common, Arctic, and Roseate Terns breed in Britain, though the Roseate is decidedly scarce there. S. fluviatilis, the Common Tern, occupying the coasts and inland waters of Europe, temperate Asia, and temperate America–chiefly on the eastern side in the last case–and migrating to South Africa, India, Ceylon, and Brazil, has red feet, and red bill with horn-coloured tip, the lower parts being vinaceous grey. S. macrura, the Arctic Tern, frequenting the northern regions of Europe and America from lat. 82° to 50°, and 42° N. respectively, has the bill entirely red, the metatarsus comparatively short, and the breast French grey. The two or three brown-spotted eggs vary from olive to green, and are frequently ruddier than those of the Common Tern. S. dougalli, the Roseate Tern, differing in the nearly black bill, the white tips to the inner webs of the primaries, and the evanescent pink tinge on the under parts, is widely distributed from lat. 57° N. in the Atlantic to New Caledonia, but is apparently wanting in the Eastern Pacific. Its cry is peculiarly grating. S. albigena, ranging from the Red Sea to the Malabar coast, is much darker, and has orange feet; while S. hirundinacea, extending from Brazil and Peru to the regions south of Cape Horn, S. vittata of St. Paul's, Amsterdam, Inaccessible, Tristan da Cunha, and Kerguelen Islands, and S. virgata of Kerguelen Island and the Crozets are closely allied forms, of which the last two are said to lay a single egg. S. albistriata, with but slightly elongated outer rectrices, yellow bill and feet, inhabits New Zealand and strays to Norfolk Island; S. forsteri, with white under parts, orange bill, and reddish feet, inhabits most of North America. S. melanogaster of India, reaching northwards to Afghanistan and Bhutan, has a black belly.
Of forms with much stouter bills than Sterna, Seena aurantia, of India, the Burmese countries and Yunnan, has the bill and feet orange; Hydroprocne caspia, the Caspian Tern–largest of the Sub-family–has a very short tail, red bill, and black feet. The latter occupies most of the world, except tropical South America and the Pacific Islands, visiting Britain, and breeding as near to it as Sylt. Gelochelidon anglica, the Gull-billed Tern, with a long metatarsus, reddish-black beak and feet, occurs in Britain and is found through the temperate and tropical parts of the Old and New Worlds, but not in South Africa, and rarely in Western America. Phaëthusa magnirostris, of the warmer portions of North America, has a short tail, yellow bill, and olive-yellow feet.
The genus Hydrochelidon, or Marsh Tern, is distinguished by a short tail, a comparatively small bill, and feet with much indented webs. The note is shrill; the food consists of aquatic insects, varied by frogs, newts, and small fish: the nests, placed in close proximity on swamps or pools, are formed of water plants and are sometimes mere floating masses of them; the three eggs are often very dark olive or brown. H. nigra, the Black Tern or Blue Darr, ranges from Europe south of lat. 60° N. and the Mediterranean to Turkestan, wintering as far as Loango and Abyssinia. It bred in the east of England up to 1858, since which date a nest is quite exceptional, while its two congeners are only chance visitors. The colour is lead-grey, with blacker head, black bill and reddish-brown feet. The darker race H. surinamensis inhabits temperate America from Alaska and Canada southwards, migrating to Chili and Brazil. H. leucoptera, the White-winged Black Tern, is found in Central and Southern Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa; reaching accidentally to America, and in winter from Cape Colony to Australia and New Zealand. It is chiefly black, with white carpal region, rump, tail, and vent, the bill and feet being red. H. hybrida, the Whiskered Tern, has a similar range, but breeds also from India to Australia. The main colour is slate-grey, the head and nape being black, the bill and feet red, and a white streak marking each cheek. In the winter and immature plumage the under parts are entirely, and the head partially white, throughout the genus.
Of fossil Laridae Halcyornis occurs in the Lower Eocene of England, Aegialornis[[203]] in the Upper Eocene of France; while the Lower Miocene of the latter country, the Middle Miocene of Germany, and the Pliocene of Oregon furnish Larus.
Fam. VIII. Alcidae.–The Sub-order Alcae contains only this Family, or the Auks, wherein the body is heavy and compact, the head large, the plumage close and elastic. The stout bill varies extraordinarily, as will be seen under the various species. The abbreviated metatarsus is reticulated, usually with a row of scutellae in front; the long anterior toes are fully webbed, the hallux is absent or rudimentary, the claws are stout, acute, and slightly curved. The wings are very short, and the Great Auk was absolutely flightless; but most species fly strongly and rapidly to varying distances, the pinions not being flipper-like as in the Penguins, to which these birds have no affinity; like them, however, they commonly sit upright upon the metatarsus, and walk awkwardly from the feet being placed so far back, while they swim and dive to perfection. The primaries are eleven, the secondaries from fifteen to nineteen. The short tail may be rounded as in Uria, or graduated with pointed rectrices as in Alca; the quills numbering twelve, except in A. impennis, which has eighteen. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the tongue lanceolate; the nostrils–covered with feathers in Alca, Uria and Mergulus, and with a horny membrane elsewhere–are pervious. An aftershaft is present, and down is plentiful on both adults and nestlings, being in the latter fluffy, and of a black, grey, or brown colour, sometimes relieved by white. Elongated feathers, crests, and horny outgrowths are common, as described below.
Auks are entirely pelagic birds, breeding from the Polar Seas southwards to Japan, Lower California, Maine, and the Berlengas off the Tagus, while wandering further in winter; but the North Pacific may certainly be considered their headquarters. In the case of the British species a small proportion remain near shore after the autumn, but it seems to be quite uncertain where the majority spend the colder months. The members of this Family can hardly be called gregarious, except in the breeding time, when vast flocks arrive with great regularity, or even to an exact day. In England this occurs at the end of March or beginning of April, the latter part of August or the first week of September being as punctually observed for departure. Except for purposes of procreation, or during violent storms, individuals are rarely seen on land, as might be expected from the clumsy style of gait; yet Puffins and Black Guillemots are fairly good walkers, and the former fly particularly straight and swiftly. Auks either splash along the surface of the waves before diving, or plunge suddenly, and when immersed use their wings much as if flying. The usual voice is a harsh-toned croak or grunt, but in addition Simorhynchus is said to chatter, Cyclorhynchus to whistle; Ptychorhamphus utters a musical ringing sound, the Little Auk a wild cry, and Black Guillemots a shrill, plaintive note. Fish, crustaceans, worms, and the like, with chance ship-refuse, compose the diet; the birds frequently disgorging it when scared, and sometimes in order to feed the young.
The great pear-shaped egg of the Guillemots proper, and the more oval one of the Razorbill, is deposited on some bare ledge of a cliff, on a stack, or on an island rock. In the case of the latter bird the egg is usually in a crevice, being white or buff with black or brown markings, and generally, if not invariably, green inside. Guillemots' eggs vary from white or buff to brilliant green or blue, and are spotted, streaked, or covered with intricate wavy patterns of black, brown, or rufous; the same bird probably always producing similar specimens. The Black Guillemots lay two greenish-white eggs with blotches of brown, rust-colour, and grey, under close-packed boulders or in holes low down in cliffs; that of the Little Auk is pale bluish-green, with or without faint rufous stains, and is found in similar, but commonly much higher, situations; Synthliborhamphus and various other forms use burrows in the turf, like Petrels, as an alternative to chinks in rocks; but the first-named produces two buff eggs, spotted with brown and grey, while the remainder lay only one, which is either white, or very indistinctly marked. Of these, Puffins fashion a considerable nest of dry materials. In some instances at least, both sexes incubate, the period being nearly five weeks. When hatched in holes the young remain there for a considerable time, otherwise they are soon assisted by their parents to reach the sea. Where unmolested, Auks are sufficiently tame; Puffins, Razorbills, and so forth, however, bite severely if handled, and the first-named will fight with each other to the death.
As will be seen, the colour of both sexes in summer is black or dusky, varied by white, and occasionally brown; the winter plumage being duller and less decorative, and resembling the garb of the young. The size varies from that of the Great Auk to that of the Least or Knob-billed Auklet, the Family being confined to the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions.