ARCTIC TERN 419 



There are some fine specimens in the Maidstone 

 Museum, obtained in the Lower Med way by Mr. E. J. 

 Balston. He also observed it in the Orlestone district. 



Captain Boyd Alexander, in 1896, writes : " On August 

 24, strong south-westerly wind. Three big flocks of 

 Curlew, each numbering on an average 200 birds, have 

 come to the Lydd Beach. They appeared from the 

 north-eastward." 



Mr. T. Hepburn, in his notes on the birds on the beach 

 at Dungeness in 1900, writes : " May 10 to 14 : Saw single 

 bn-ds, and also small flocks of this species flying inland 

 from the sea-coast. 



Family LARID^. 



Genus STERNA, Brisson. 



AECTIC TEEN. 



Sterna Jiirundo, LinnaBus. S.N., i., p. 227 (1766). 



There is no doubt that much confusion occurs respect- 

 ing this bird and the ordinary Tern on the coast of Kent. 

 This and the following species resemble one another to 

 such an extent that at a distance it is only an expert 

 observer vv^ho can detect the difference. Under these 

 circumstances the Arctic Tern may be more numerous 

 than is supposed. 



These Terns frequent our shores during the summer, 

 arriving about April and May, and depart in August and 

 September, or later in October. It is at present uncer- 

 tain whether this species has really bred on the beaches 

 of Kent for many years past. 



