THE ARCTIC TERN.* 



The " I5ri.stol Mirror " of 1842 records the following fact, which occurred at a time 

 when there was verj' blowing weather : — " During the high winds that prevailed on 

 Sunday, May 8th, our harbour and floating docks were visited b}^ large flights of the rare 

 and beautiful species, the Arctic Tern. The birds were assembled in such vast numbers, 

 that two or three hundred were killed with stones and other missiles, whilst several were 

 caught alive ; and so tame were they, that many were observed to pitch on the backs of 

 passers-by. 



" This tern, as its name indicates, is a native of the higher Arctic regions, and has 

 been met with in all the late expeditions to the Polar Seas. It is a summer visitant to 

 the coasts of Scotland and the North of England, but is rarely met with more southerly, 

 and until the present time there was no instance on record of a specimen having been 

 obtained in this neighbourhood. The appearance of such vast flights of Arctic birds, 

 rare as a species, in the verj^ heart of a large city, is an occurrence as remarkable as it is 

 interesting. Flocks of these birds were also observed the same day at Clevedon, Weston, 

 and other places along the Channel coast." 



' Stt-nia Arctiea. 



