^ LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



Range in Great Britain. — The Whiskered Tern is an acci- 

 dental visitor to the British Islands, and the occurrences of 

 the species are only some half-dozen at number, specimens 

 having been obtained in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, 

 Norfolk, and Yorkshire ; while Ireland has one record from 

 the River Liffey. One of these birds was obtained in May, 

 another on Hickling Brond in June, and the remainder in 

 autumn. 



Range Outside the British Islands. — This is a species of 

 Southern Europe, rarely reaching Northern Germany and the 

 British Islands ; but it extends eastwards at about the same 

 latitude to China, and visits Africa, India (breeding in both 

 these countries), and the Malayan Archipelago, as far as 

 Australia, in winter. It apjxirently wanders to the eastern coasts 

 of America occasionally, as the British Museum possesses a 

 specimen procured by Sir R. Schomburgk in Barbados. 



Habits. — Like the preceding species, this is a Marsh Tern, 

 and in habits it resembles H. nigra, the food being the same 

 in both species. It nests in colonies. 



Nest. — This is generally a mass of weeds, and is often found 

 floating on the surface of the water. In Southern Spain, 

 where large colonies of the Whiskered Tern are met with, 

 Major WilloLighby Verner visited a breeding -colony of these 

 birds at La Janda, on the 7th of May, 1875, and found 

 several hundred nests floating on the top of the water; they 

 T^ere simple platforms of reeds and rushes, and were kept from 

 drifting to some extent by the young rushes growing up in the 

 water. Only two nests contained a single egg. Five days 

 later over thirty nests contained eggs. In the interval between 

 the visits a strong wind had arisen, and had blown away many 

 of the Terns' nests along the water, till they were packed in a 

 dense mass on the lee side of the Laguna.* 



Eggs. — Three in number. Prevailing ground-colour green- 

 ish-grey, sometimes clay-colour, the markings of the eggs 

 being similar in character to those of the allied Terns, but 

 rather iiore scattered and distinct, while in some examples the 



* Irby, Orn. Straits Gibraltar, 2nd ed., p. 293. 



