. British birds in their haunts. Birds. THE BLACK TEEI^. STERNA FlSSIPES. Bill black; feet purple-brown, the membrane short; head and neck black; upper parts lead-colour; under parts dark ash-grey; under tail-coverts white; tail not much forked, shorter than the wings; irides brown. In winter, the lore, throat, and breast are white. Length ten and a quarter inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, blotched and spotted with black. The Black Tern is a common bird in most tem]-)Grate countries which abound in extensive marshes. In its habits it is scarcely less aquatic than the preceding spe- cies, but dif
. British birds in their haunts. Birds. THE BLACK TEEI^. STERNA FlSSIPES. Bill black; feet purple-brown, the membrane short; head and neck black; upper parts lead-colour; under parts dark ash-grey; under tail-coverts white; tail not much forked, shorter than the wings; irides brown. In winter, the lore, throat, and breast are white. Length ten and a quarter inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, blotched and spotted with black. The Black Tern is a common bird in most tem]-)Grate countries which abound in extensive marshes. In its habits it is scarcely less aquatic than the preceding spe- cies, but differs from them all in preferring fresh water to salt. It was formerly of frequent occurrence in England ; but draining and reclaiming have, within the last few years, given over many of its haunts to the Par- tridge and Wood Pigeon ; and it is now but rarely known to breed in this country.* A few, however, are not nn- frequently seen in spring and autumn, when on their way from and to their winter quarters, which are the w^armer * The Rev. R. Lubbock states in his " Fauna of Norfolk, 1845," that it has ceased to breed regular!3' in Norfolk, but that eggs liad been recently obtained at Crowland Wash in Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Johns, C. A. (Charles Alexander), 1811-1874. London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1867
