. A practical handbook of British birds . THE BLACK TERN. 689 Terns by deeply incised webs and from other Chlidonias insummer by blackish chin and slate-grey lesser wing-coverts,and in juvenile and winter by brown patches on sides ofbreast. Field-characters.—Adult in breeding plumage unlike any otherBritish Tern except the rarer C. leucopterus, which has white carpusand tail. Immature Black and White-winged Black Terns probablyindistinguishable in the field, but differ from other Terns in havingonly slightly forked tail. Bulk of food taken in air, or picked deftlyfrom surface of water during f
. A practical handbook of British birds . THE BLACK TERN. 689 Terns by deeply incised webs and from other Chlidonias insummer by blackish chin and slate-grey lesser wing-coverts,and in juvenile and winter by brown patches on sides ofbreast. Field-characters.—Adult in breeding plumage unlike any otherBritish Tern except the rarer C. leucopterus, which has white carpusand tail. Immature Black and White-winged Black Terns probablyindistinguishable in the field, but differ from other Terns in havingonly slightly forked tail. Bulk of food taken in air, or picked deftlyfrom surface of water during flight. Seldom splashes into water,and rarely if ever submerges as other Terns do. Migrants passingthrough Britain usually silent ; a note occasionally heard is areiterated tcherk, and cry at breeding places is a shrill crick,crick. Breeding-habits.—Nests in colonies in marshes, lagoons, etc.,generally in shallow water. Nest.—Floating heap of water-weeds,reeds, etc., more neatly lined than that of Whiskered Tern and withfiner materi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1920
