STERNA, the tern, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Anseres. Generic character: bill straight, pointed, and slender; nostrils linear; tongue slender and pointed ; wings very long ; back toe small; tail forked. There are twenty-five species. The following are the principal : S. caspia, or the Caspian tern; this abounds on the seas wherein it derives its name. It fishes also in rivers, and sometimes suddenly darts upon its prey from a considerable height, and at other times skims the surface of the water in the manner of a swallow.
It is nearly two feet in length. It lays only two eggs, and its sound resembles that of a person laughing.
S. stolida, or the noddy, is a foot and a quarter long, and is frequently met with at sea, between the tropics. It lays its eggs on the bare ground ; is consider ed by navigators as generally indicating the neighbourhood of land ; often alights on the yards and rigging of vessels; will suffer itself to be taken by the hand and from the general want of sagacity which it exhibits, is called by sailors by the name of noddy. It will, however, notwithstand
ing its alleged tameness and stupidity,. often bite with great severity.
S. hirundo, the great tern, is found ii various parts of Europe, and in summer on the British coasts. It is fourteen inches long. Its manners, on the water, resemble those of the swallow by land. It skims along precisely in the same man ner, catching every insect in its progress; and when it perceives a fish, it darts into the water, and reverts to the air with a rapidity truly astonishing. It is bold and daring ; and, in the season of incubation, will attack persons who have given it no molestation, and are at a distance from its nest. For the lesser tern, see Ayes, Plate XIII. fig. T.