SANDWICH TERN. 633 



Female in Winter. — The female is in all respects simi- 

 lar to the male. 



Length to end of tail 15| inches ; extent of wings 33 ; 

 tarsus -^ ; middle toe \%, its claw -^. 



Variations. — It has been alleged by some authors that 

 the pink blush is not perceptible in the winter plumage ; 

 but my observation enables me to contradict this opinion. 

 As the plumage becomes old, the pale grey tint on the 

 outer quills disappears, in consequence of the abrasion 

 of the barbules, and the exposed surface is black. Other- 

 wise I am not aware of any remarkable changes, until 

 the spring moult, after which the appearance is as fol- 

 lows : — 



Mai,e in Summer. — The bill and feet as in winter. The 

 whole upper part of the head, including the forehead, and the 

 elongated feathers on the nape, deep black. The other parts 

 are coloured as in winter, only the pink tinge of the neck, 

 breast, and sides, is richer. 



Female in Summer. — Similar to the male. 



Habits. — This Tern has repeatedly been shot along the 

 shores of the Firth of Forth. In the end of September, 1840, 

 I procured these two individuals, an adult male of which the 

 plumage was already complete, and a young bird, which had 

 undergone its first moult. Bewick describes a pair that were 

 shot on the Fern Islands, on the coast of Northumberland, in 

 1802 ; and Mr. Selby, who has found them resorting in great 

 numbers to these islands, as well as to the Isle of Coquet, a 

 few miles to the southward, gives the following account of 

 them : — " Here a station is selected apart from the other 

 species, generally on a higher site, and the nests are so close 

 to each other as to render it difficult to cross the ground 

 without breaking the eggs, or injuring the unfledged young. 

 Upon this coast it is called, ^;ar excellence, ' The Tern,' all 

 the other species passing under the general name of ' Sea 

 Swallows.' Its habits strongly resemble those of its genus, 



