252 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE. 



hirundo. Provincial, Skiff. The wide-spreading 

 bed of sliingle near Pevensey Bay, between East- 

 bourne and Bexhill, is still the resort of many 

 species of terns in the breeding-season ; but they 

 are not so numerous as they used to be, probably 

 in consequence of the vast number of their eggs 

 which have been taken during the summer, the 

 sale of which amounted a few years ago almost to 

 a regular traffic. I have heard that a person, who 

 lived at that time near Bexhill, had a peculiar 

 breed of dog — a sort of cross, as I understand, 

 between a setter and a water-spaniel — which 

 he trained to hunt for the eggs of terns, ring- 

 dotterels, and lapwings: and valuable coadjutors 

 they proved. Quartering the ground like a pointer 

 or setter, and taking advantage of the direction of 

 the wind in the same manner, they would draw 

 gradually towards the spot where the eggs of a 

 tern had been deposited — whether the bird was 

 at home or not —and drop within a yard of them. 

 Such assistance must have greatly lessened the 

 labour of egg-hunting on this stony desert, for 

 it is generally a tedious process — as I know by 

 experience — requiring much patience and long 

 practice, so nearly do the eggs, both in colour 

 and form, resemble the surrounding flints and 

 pebbles. 



Arctic Tern, Sterna arctica. Is decidedly 



