TERNS 29ii 



summer, which happened to be a very wet one." 

 On the 8th July he found a nest containing two 

 eggs which were in a forward state for hatching. 

 The nest was placed on the ground, about the size 

 of a saucer, quite fiat, and composed of roots and 

 dry grass trodden down so as to be quite firm and 

 compact. The eggs, barely an inch and a half in 

 length, were of an olive colour, thickly spotted and 

 blotched with deep brown, especially towards the 

 larger end. On the 8th of June 1853 three nests 

 (two with three eggs and one with two) were taken 

 in Felt well Fen, and, according to Professor New- 

 ton, these were the last eggs that were laid in West 

 Norfolk {Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, vol. v. p. 567). 



On referring to my notebooks, I find that the 

 dates on which I have noted Black Terns on migra- 

 tion at Kingsbury Reservoir were the following : — 

 1863, April 25, Aug. 7; 1864, April 29, Aug. 11; 

 1865, May 7, Sept. 2; 1866, May 4, Aug. 9, 

 1867, April 27, xiug. 3 and 4; 1868, several in 

 Sept.; 1870, May 23, Oct. 7; 1871, May 12,' 13, 

 15, 23; 1872, Aug. 10; 1874, April 26, May 1; 

 1879, Aug. 18, I saw one on the Thames at Sun- 

 bury (Zool, 1879, p. 383). In 1895 Black Terns 

 were observed at Tring, Marsworth, and Wilstone 

 Reservoirs on April 17 and 20, May 6, Aug. 7 and 

 17. On May 7, 1896, a pair were seen at Kings- 

 bury Reservoir. This shows the persistency with 

 which birds continue to travel along the old lines 

 of migration. On the wing this bird may be readily 



1 Several were shot on this day, and a Whiinbrel. 



