CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 103 



gun at a bunch of Dunbirds* on Hickling Broad, when 

 the charge hung fire for a second or two, exploding 

 just as the Pagets Pochard happened to be flymg past 

 the line of the shot. Had the charge ignited when I 

 pulled the trigger, it must have escaped with a fright 

 alone. 



As stated above, this bird was obtained on Hickling 

 Broad, in the east of Norfolk, in November, 1871. 



ARCTIC TERN.— (Mature.) 



Case 107. 



Like all the rest of its family, the Arctic Tern is only 

 a visitor to the British Islands, arriving in the spring, 

 rearing its young on our shores, and leaving us on the 

 approach of cold weather. 



There are still several breeding stations at different 

 points round the coast, though two or three spots, 

 where they formerly nested in the South, have been of 

 late years entirely deserted. 



Great numbers still take up their summer residence 

 on the Fern Islands. The sketch from which the case 

 is copied was taken at one of their colonies, close to 

 the old lighthouse in the centre of the group. 



I have seen these birds nesting in the oat fields in 

 the neighbourhood of some of the Scotch firths, on the 

 north-east coast of Scotland. 



The specimens in the case were shot on the shores 

 of the Dornoch Firth, near Tain, in June, 1869. The 

 eggs were obtained at the Fern Islands, in June, 1867. 



* The Dunbird, or Sandyliead, is one of the names by which 

 the Common Pochard is known among the gunners on the South 

 Coast. A bunch signifies a small flock. 



