fi46 STERNA ARCTICA. 



When its breeding-places are invaded, it evinces great 

 anxiety and petulance, Hying up and meeting the intruder, 

 screaming out its creaking cries, hovering and bounding 

 around him, sweeping close to his head, and sometimes, 

 though very rarely, hitting him with its wings. In some 

 localities, the nests are so thickly placed that one must 

 pick his steps to avoid trampling upon them. The young 

 remain in the neighbourhood of their birth-place until they 

 are able to fly, when they accompany their parents to the 

 sandy shores, and are for some time fed by them Avith sand- 

 eels and other small fishes, which are their common food. 

 Flocks of young birds are often seen by themselves, and are 

 more easily approached than the old Terns. 



By the middle of September they have mostly disappeared ; 

 but to what coast they direct their flight seems to be quite 

 unknown. They are certainly not arctic residents, as M. 

 Temminck imagines, otherwise we should have them in abun- 

 dance on our shores all winter. A fact which tends to show 

 that they pass the cold season far south, possibly on the 

 shores of Africa, occurred in the south-west of England in the 

 beginning of May, 1842, when vast numbers Avere dispersed 

 over a large tract of country which tliey had not been known 

 to visit before. Mr. Strickland, in the ninth volume of the 

 Annals and Magazine of Natural History, states that a flock 

 made its appearance on the 8th May, on the River Avon, in 

 Worcestershire, and that great numbers occurred simultane- 

 ously over a large extent of country. The Bristol Mirror 

 announced, that " during the high winds that had prevailed, 

 the harbour and floating docks had been visited by large 

 flights. 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. Flocks of these birds were also observed the 

 same day at Clevedon, Weston, and other places along the 

 Channel coast." The editor adds that " numbers made their 

 appearance at Swansea, Cornwall, and at Bridge water on the 

 east." Mr. Strickland thinks " we may attribute their un- 

 exampled appearance so far inland to the westerly winds 



