I So 



GULL GROUP 



September or early October, and buildini^ in colonies all round the 

 coasts, although less commonly so than in former years in many parts 

 of the north of England and Scotland. In 1907 a nest was taken in 

 North Uist ; and the species also breeds in other parts of the Outer 

 Hebrides. In Ireland its chief breeding-resorts are situated on the 

 coasts of Leinster, Ulster, and Connaught. 



Although throughout the British Isles the breeding-haunts of this 

 species are restricted to the coasts, where beaches and sand-banks are 

 selected, in India the little tern, like the other ternlets, breeds chiefly on 

 tidal estuaries, the banks of large rivers, and salt-water lagoons, where 

 it feeds chiefly on fish. In general habits these terns are very similar 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STi 



I. ITT I. K TKKN. 



to their larger relatives, although their smaller dimensions give them 

 the appearance of being sti.U more active birds. Generally the eggs — 

 two, or less commonly, three in number — are laid in a mere hollow 

 in the bare sand, but in some cases the margin is said to be surrounded 

 with a ring of broken cockle or other shells. The eggs range from i^ 

 to nearly i^ inches in length, and are as variable in colouring as those 

 of the Sandwich tern, but are more regular in shape, being nearly oval. 

 From pale cream to drab or buff is the usual range of the ground- 

 colour, upon which arc bold markings in the shape of variable spots 

 and blotches of different shades of dark brown, with well-developed 

 underlying purplish marks. 



Three instances (one of two birds) of the occurrence of the noddy 

 (Afious stolidus) in the British Islands have been recorded, but it does 

 not seem that any one of them is altogether free from a certain element 



