There was a time when dead bodies of these dainty birds were wired on women's hats! Changing that barbarous notion was a long hard pull but it was done before the last bird followed other species into the limbo of extinction. From Maine to Florida I have seen these little shy butterflies, hovering over their sandy homes, playing above blue waters or driving south against the gray sky of a September gale.
I have not been 'longshore for some years but reports show they are increasing in numbers and returning to many haunts that knew them not for years.
LEAST TERNS are plucky and courageous, attacking anything that threatens injury to their family.
They readily learn whether an intruder is dangerous or not. After a few minutes of wild dashes and cries around me, I have rested on a dune within ten feet of a pair feeding their young as unconcernedly as tho I were not there.
Temperate North America from Newfoundland and parts of Central United States, and lower Pacific coast, south.