564 LARID^. 



many parts of the coast during the summer months. In 

 some places it seems to be abundant. Mr. Selby found 

 Sandwich Terns, in great numbers, on the islands off the 

 coast of Northumberland. " Here," he says, "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 ■par excellence ' The Tern,' all the other 

 species passing under the general name of 'Sea Swal- 

 lows.' " Its habits are so like those of the Common Tern, 

 to be described hereafter, that, to avoid repetition, I 

 purposely omit all account of its mode of fishing, and 

 content myself with quoting, on the authority of Audubon 

 and Meyer, incidents in its biography which I have not 

 noticed in the Common Tern. The former author says : — 

 " Its cries are sharp, grating, and loud enough to be heard 

 at the distance of half a mile. They are repeated at 

 intervals while it is travelling, and kept up incessantly 

 when one intrudes upon it in its breeding ground, on 

 which occasion it sails and dashes over your head, chiding 

 you with angry notes, more disagreeable than pleasant to 

 your ear." Meyer, writing of the same bird, says : " The 

 Sandwich Tern is observed to be particularly fond of 

 settling on sunken rocks where the waves run high, and 

 the surf is heavy : this being a peculiar fancy belonging 

 to this species, it is sometimes called by the name of Surf 

 Tern." 



