28 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



reference to the latter Mr. C. Oldham also writes : " Terns 

 were present in some numbers on the large reservoir at Wil- 

 stone, near Tring, on the morning of May 4th, a day of light 

 easterly A\'inds. About thirty Common Terns were hawking 

 over the water, and scattered among them were several Black 

 Terns. It was not easy to ascertain their precise number, 

 but there were five at any rate, for I had in view at one time 

 four that were resting upon a rail in the water, and another 

 was on the wing in their immediate vicinity. A Cormorant, 

 a White Wagtail, unusual numbers of Common Sandpipers 

 and of Swifts in flocks, showed that the migratory movement 

 A\as not restricted to the Terns, as did a party of fourteen 

 adult Lesser Black -backed Gulls which put in an appearance 

 about mid-day. The Gulls dropped down to the water, but 

 stayed only for a few seconds — indeed some of them did not 

 actually alight — and then rose and drifted away to the 

 north-east." 



Sandwich Tern Nesting near Aberdeen. — The Sand- 

 wich Tern {Sterna s. sandvicensis) appears to breed only 

 sporadically on the east side of Scotland. ]\Ir. A. L. Thomson 

 records {Scot. Nat., 1912, pp. 84-5) the finding of a nest with 

 one egg on June 11th, 1910, in the midst of a large colony 

 of Black-headed Gulls and Common Terns near Aberdeen. 

 The egg subsequently disappeared, so that the identification 

 rests upon the knowledge of the distinctive character of the 

 egg possessed by Mr. Thomson and Mr. A. G. Davidson, who 

 also saw the nest. Single birds or small parties have been 

 noted on this coast in the spring and summer on several 

 occasions each year since 1908, as well as in the autumns 

 of 1907, 1908, and 1910. 



Early Arrival of the Common Tern. — Mr. G. Stout 

 states {Scot. Nat., 1912, p. 92) that he saw three examples 

 of Sterna hirundo on February 24th, 1912, at Cardross, on the 

 Clyde. On Mr. Eagle Clarke's authority this is the earliest 

 recorded date for the bird's arrival in the British Isles. In 

 the next number of the same journal (p. 117) however, Mr. 

 J. R. Lawrence asserts that he saw three " Terns " near 

 Davaar Point on February 1st, and a flock on February 4th, 

 and remarks that he is well acquainted with the bird at 

 Pentland Skerries. 



