i68 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



eye of the tern was able to penetrate the very muddy 

 water is a mystery. However, the tern did manage 

 to distinguish its quarry, for, although its movements 

 were so rapid that I was not able to discover what it 

 was catching, I could see distinctly that, when rising, it 

 carried something tiny in its bill. 



Terns are especially addicted to pieces of water that 

 are rapidly drying up, for under such conditions they 

 find the creatures upon which they prey literally 

 josthng one another. After the water has been run 

 off from a canal, dozens of terns congregate at each 

 hollow in the canal-bed in which water lies. 



The tern, when it plunges after its quarry, takes great 

 care not to wet its wings. Its habit is to drop from a 

 height of about twenty feet head foremost . In the course 

 of the plunge the head and body are often submerged, 

 but, I think, never the wings ; during the operation, 

 these are held almost vertically. So assiduously was 

 this tern plying his profession that he made thirty 

 dives in about six minutes. 



While he was thus employed a pied kingfisher 

 (Ceryle nidis) appeared on the scene and took up a 

 position on one of three neem trees that grew beside 

 the tank. After sitting thus for a few seconds, he too 

 began to seek for food. Save that both he and the 

 tern drop from a height of about twenty feet into the 

 water after their quarry, there is but little similarity 

 between their movements. The tern sails gracefully 

 along on pinions which move but slowly, while the 

 kingfisher flies a little way, then remains stationary in 

 the air for a few seconds on rapidly vibrating wings, 



