ON LONELY BIRD KEY 



91 



Here, too, at the outset, we began to see the manner of Hfe 

 of the Sooty Tern, Their homes are never on the bushes, but 

 on the ground, either under shelter of the fohage or out in 

 the open spots. Home-making is reduced to the lowest 

 terms ; merely a hollow scratched in the sand, and all is 

 ready. It seems strange that both these species lay but one 

 egg. If robbed, they will lay again and again, but each pair 

 raises only a single chick each season. This is one of the 



MA.\-U -WAR BIRDS AT THEIR ROOST 



(One is still asleep) 



wonderful adaptations of nature, that the birds which have 

 few natural enemies should have small families, while those 

 much persecuted — like ducks and grouse — have large 

 broods. The eggs of both these terns are about two inches 

 long, of a buf^y white, with reddish markings, but are dis- 

 tinguishable in that those of the Noddy are less marked, 

 though the situation, upon ground or bush, makes the matter 

 certain. Very rarely the Sooty Tern has two eggs, but I never 

 found more than one in the possession of a Noddy. 



I soon found that, for breeding purposes, the two species 

 had apportioned off the island into separate communities. 



