320 COMMON TERN. 



COMMON TERN. 



STERNA HIRUNDO. 



Family Larid^. Genus Sterna. 



Sea Swallow — Tarney — Gull Teaser. 



The Common Tern is not, as its name would imply, 

 the commonest of the Terns. In former years it was 

 confused with the Arctic Tern, but since the two species 

 have been distinguished, the latter one is found to be 

 the more numerous of the two, especially in the North. 

 The Common Tern is found in suitable parts on most 

 of the coasts of the British Isles in the summer months. 

 It frequents the sandy flats and shingles and mouths of 

 rivers, and often follows their course inland. It also 

 is sometimes found on the shores of our inland lakes. 

 It has been observed at Fleet Pond in Hampshire, 

 which is near Basingstoke and many miles from the 

 sea. 



It feeds upon small fish, which it catches on the wing; 

 and will often chase and worry small gulls until they 

 drop the small fish they have caught, when the Tern 

 secures them before they reach the water; from this 

 habit it gets the name of Gull Teaser. It is a very 

 graceful bird upon the wing and its occasional swift 

 motions and turns in the air have obtained for it the 

 name of Sea Swallow, but this is not its ordinary mode 

 of flight, as it is usually much more deliberate on the 

 wing than the Swallow. 



The Common Tern breeds sparingly in several places 

 on our coasts. In common with other Terns and Gulls, 

 the Fame Islands are one of its favourite breeding 

 haunts. It makes no nest but lays its eggs on the 

 bare shingle or sand, more rarely upon the low rocks, 

 often quite close to the water's edge. 



