STKRNA. 



319 



many birdb came from the sandy point of the island and hovered about the boat, making mucli 

 noise, so I dn^pped anchor and landed for inspection. I found fourteen eggs, all varying much 

 in colour, and laid singly in depressions on the top of a sand spit, without any nesting material 

 whatever. All the eggs were laid within a radius ot three feet." 



Dr. Lonsdale Holden, while resident in Tasmania, wrote: — "On the 20th March, 1892, I 

 shot one of six Bass Strait Terns (Tliahissciis poUnccvais), off Circular Head wharf, that were 

 fishing at the mouth of the Eastern Inlet, it was the only one with the crown of the head 

 entirely black. This Tern may sometimes be found on the shores of Circular Head Peninsula, 

 gathered in considerable llocks. They settle on some low rocky point, and are very wary of 

 approach." 



PTom Tasmania Mr. K. N. .\tkinson wrote as follows;—'- Mr. W. J. T. Armstrong and my 

 father found two colonies of the Bass Strait Tern (Tludasscus polioicirus) breeding on small low 



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CRESTKD TERNS NESTINi: ON DAX(; EUcjU.S REEF, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



islands in the Furneaux Group, in November, 1907. In a few cases the single egg was deposited 

 upon the bare level ground, but as a rule in hollows about four and a half inches in diameter by 

 one and a half in depth, wherever a suitable spot occurred. Invariably only a single egg was 

 laid in each nest, great variation showing in their size, shape, colour and markings. I visited 

 the same localities rather earlier in the season of 1909, and found that although plenty of birds 

 were present laying had not commenced." 



The above figure, reproduced from a photograph supplied by the Director of Education, 

 Adelaide, South Australia, was taken during a trip of the steamship "Governor Musgrave" 

 among the islands and reefs near the entrance of Spencer's Gulf, South Australia, in January, 1907. 



Only one egg is laid for a sitting. The eggs are oval in form, and as a rule somewhat 

 pointed at the smaller end, the shell being comparatively close-grained, smooth and slightly 

 lustrous, and are extremely variable in colour and disposition of markings. The ground colour 



