THE TERNS, GULLS, AND SKUAS. 277 



Apparently resident on the east side of Scotland (where 

 it breeds on the islands), also on the west in the Hebrides, 

 Arctic and off the English coast on the Fame group, 

 Tern. -j^j^g Arctic Tern is a somew^hat darker bird 

 than the last, and the bill and legs are of a more pro- 

 nounced red. In food and habits, it resembles the last. 

 Egg 8^ 2 or 3, i ^ inch ; greenish, with red spots. 



The Little Tern, with us from May to September, and 

 breeding, somewhat locally, on almost all our coasts, ap- 



* Little pears to be absent from most of the Scottish 

 Tern, isles. The bill is bright yellow, tipped with 

 black, while the crown and a line from the eye to the 

 bill are also black. Like the other terns, the bird is 

 bold when near its eggs. It makes no nest. Eggs, 2 or 

 3, i^ inch ; grey, with brown spots. 



Sooty Tern. — A straggler from the tropics, obtained 

 three times. I have seen large numbers on the islets in 

 the Red Sea. 



ScopoU's Sooty Tern. — A very rare straggler from the 

 tropics ; has been obtained but once — at the mouth of the 

 Thames. 



G%dl-hilled Tern. — A rare straggler from the south. 

 About a score have been obtained in England, chiefly in 

 the east and south ; none in Scotland or Ireland. 



The Caspian Tern, the largest of British terns, is a 

 rare visitor to the east and south of England, but has 

 not reached Scotland or Ireland. 



Though the Sandwich Tern is a regular visitor to 



these islands, and, while far less plentiful than formerly, 



*Sand- ^^i^l found breeding on the Fame Islands 



•wich. and in other spots on the English, Scottish, 



and Irish coasts, the breeding - stations of 



this bird are at the present day few and far between. 



The male has a black crow^n, and the long, forked tail, 



with the rump, is conspicuously white. The bird feeds 



