LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 239 



mice. The din suddenly ceases, every voice is still ; the silence is so 

 striking that we look up to see the cause, as thousands of white wings 

 are diving after him in an angry mob, and he is forced to beat a 

 hasty retreat, leaving tlie terns free to renew their attacks on us. 



Spring. — The terns arrive at Muskeget usually about the 8th or 

 10th of May, but sometimes as early as the 1st, their time of arrival 

 depending somewhat on the weather conditions prevailing at the 

 time, mild weather with strong southwest wind being favorable for 

 their migration, and cold northerly winds retarding it. When first 

 seen they are usually flying high in the air in small numbers, but 

 they soon settle down onto the island as their numbers increase. 



Courtship. — Soon after their arrival they may be seen indulging 

 in their simple courtship performances. Gathered in a small party 

 on the beach, resting and sunning themselves, the male begins strut- 

 ting about before and around the females. His neck is stretched 

 upwards to its fullest extent with his bill pointing to the sky, his 

 chest is thrown out, and his tail is held at a steep angle as he wad- 

 dles about on his short legs. Soon he flies away and brings his 

 lady love a peace offering, a sand eel, curving in a circle around his 

 bill like an engagement ring. As he struts around her with it she 

 seems to beg for it with open mouth, waddling up to him with half- 

 raised wings. Finally he offers it to her and she accepts it; per- 

 haps they pass it back and forth again before she swallows it ; but 

 at length the conjugal pack seems sealed and they fly away. Some- 

 times this little ceremony is interrupted by the arrival of a second 

 male with another sand eel which he offers to the same female. 

 She seems willing to accept the offering from either suitor until a 

 flght ensues and one of the males is driven away. 



Nesting. — Nest building for the common tern is not an elaborate 

 operation, for many of them build no nest at all, merely excavating a 

 slight hollow in the sand or on a pebbly beach. The windrows of 

 seavveed or dry eelgrass, just above high- water mark, are favorite 

 nesting sites, and here the bird makes a small cavity by beating down 

 the soft mass with a circular movement of its body. On Muskeget 

 Island nests are scattered everywhere over the sand hills, among the 

 beach grass or ivy, along the higher portions of the beaches, about 

 pieces of driftwood and in entirely open situations. Generally some 

 nesting material is brought in — seaweed, grasses, bits of twigs, and 

 other rubbish. These the bird molds into a circular hollow with 

 its body, and in this way elaborate nests are sometimes built, but 

 they always harmonize with their surroundings. 



The first eggs are laid on Muskeget between the middle and end 

 of May, the date of laying being more dependent on the weather 

 than on the date of the arrival of the terns. Comparatively few 

 eggs are laid in May, the greater portion being laid during the first 



