278 BIRDS. 



largely on sand-eels, and I once saw a pair of them lifting 

 these little lish from the surface of a sheltered bay in 

 Cornwall early in July, and visiting a ledge of rock not 

 much above high- water mark. I had my suspicions that 

 they were feeding their young, but as the bird is said to 

 have forsaken the Cornish coast and Scillies as breeding- 

 stations, this was 2:)robably fancy on my part. At any 

 rate, my object w^as fishing, and not molesting sea-birds, 

 so that I gladly left the matter in uncertainty. Eggs, 

 2, 2 inches; yellowish, with reddish-brown spots. 



The Roseate Tern formerly bred among the Scilly Islands, 

 but now nests only in a semi-protected state on the Fame 

 * Roseate Islands. The ]}ii\k. tinge on the underparts, 

 Tern. from which the bird derives its name, is not 

 lasting ; the legs and feet are red ; crown black ; and 

 general plumage on the back silver grey. This tern is 

 rarely if ever seen away from the immediate vicinity of 

 the coast. After the last two, this is about the largest of 

 our terns. Eggs, 2 or 3, i ^ inch j pale brown, with deep 

 brown blotches. 



A scarce visitor on migration, the Black Tern formerly 

 bred in East Anglia and in the Solway district. Its occur- 



§ Black rence north of the Border seems more frequent 

 Tern. on the west side, which is the reverse of what 

 obtains farther south. The tail in this (and in the follow- 

 ing) species is much less forked than in the preceding terns 

 — the same difference, in fact, as between the tails of the 

 martins and swallows. It is chiefly an insect-eater, dragon- 

 flies being among its favourite articles of food. 



The White -winged Black Tern is a scarce visitor on 



migration, chiefly in spring. It appears not 



''winged ^0 have reached Scotland, and has been 



Black reported about half - a - dozen times from 



Tern. ^ i ^ 



Ireland. 



