LARIDit. 



651 



THE LITTLE TERN. 



Sterna iniinuta, LinnEeus. 



Early in May this smallest of the British Terns makes its appear- 

 ance on our coasts, especially on those which present low flat shores 

 covered with sand, broken shells and shingle. In such localities it 

 may be found along the English Channel and from Kent northward 

 to the Humber, but the small colony which Selby found on the 

 coast of Northumberland opposite Holy Island, has ceased to exist 

 for many years. Mr. Wm. Evans informs me that this is also true 

 of Gullane in Haddingtonshire, but the bird still nests near the 

 mouth of the Tay and in Aberdeenshire ; though only a pair or two 

 can be recorded from the south-east of Sutherland and none from 

 the west. Of late years eggs appear to have been taken in the 

 Orkneys, and a bird was obtained near Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, 

 on August 3rd 1894, while colonies exist on Tiree. Southward 

 there are small settlements along the west side down to the Solway, 

 below which the Little Tern breeds in suitable localities in 

 Cumberland, Lancashire, Wales and Cornwall. In Ireland it 

 nests in many places, though seldom in large numbers, but it has 

 much increased of late. As a rule it leaves in September or early 

 in October, though a laggard has been obtained in the third week 

 of December. 



The Little Tern seldom occurs in the northern part of the Baltic 



