RIVER TERNS in 



Under the former conditions it is good to sit in the 

 stern of a gliding boat and watch the birds that 

 frequent the river. 



At sunrise the crow-pheasants (Centropus rufipennis) 

 come to the water's edge to drink, so that numbers 

 of the long-tailed, black birds with chestnut wings are 

 to be seen from the boat. Having slaked their thirst, 

 they hop up the steep bank with considerable dexterity, 

 to disappear into the stunted bushes that grow on the 

 top of the bank. Then there are, of course, the regular 

 habitues of the water's edge — the birds that frequent it 

 at all hours of the day — the ubiquitous paddy bird 

 (Ardeola grayii), which spends the greater part of its 

 life ankle-deep in water, waiting motionless for the 

 coming of its prey ; the common sandpiper [Totanus 

 hypoleucus), that solitary bird, as small as a starling, 

 which, on the approach of a human being, emits a 

 plaintive cry and flies away, displaying pointed wings 

 along the length of which runs a narrow white bar ; the 

 handsome spur- winged plover {Hoplopterus ventralis), 

 whose call is very like that of the did-he-do-it — but we 

 must not dwell on these littoral birds, for to-day I 

 would write of terns, the river birds par excellence. 

 None of God's creatures are more attractive than terns 

 to those who love beauty. That few, if any, of our 

 English poets have sung the praises of these beautiful 

 birds surely demonstrates how little attention poets 

 pay to nature, and how artificial are their writings. 

 This will, I fear, annoy the friends of the poets. I am 

 sorry, but I cannot help it. It is the fault of the bards 

 for having so grossly neglected the terns. 



