JOURNAIv OF MAINK ORNITHOI^OGICAL SOCIETY. 65 



secreting themselves in the bushes which fringe the rocks. Now 

 all these little birds must be fed and I watched the way the old 

 birds provided a food supply, which was at all times bountiful and 

 obtained without undue effort. The Terns live principally on fish, 

 which they catch by diving from the air headfirst into the water. 

 Sand eels are secured from the pools along the sand flats at low 

 water, and these form the favorite fish which are hunted by the 

 birds. 



Out in deep water the Terns sight the schools of small fish near 

 the surface with unerring dexterity. Here may be seen half a dozen 

 of the Terns skimming through the air fifteen or twenty feet from 

 the waves, hovering a moment on beating wings and then dropping 

 headforemost, with a splash, and capturing the fish in their power- 

 ful beaks. Sometimes when the supply is abundant the old birds 

 will eat fish after fish and then, when their own hunger is satisfied, 

 they will start for home, each bearing a fish in his bill to feed the 

 young. The old bird thrusts the fish down the throat of the weak- 

 ling near the nest and leaves it to be digested in the course of time. 

 Often the little birds are seen vainly trying to swallow fish which 

 are fully as big as their own slender necks, but it is evident that the 

 problem of digestion presents no very serious difiiculties, for the 

 percentage of young birds which perish is apparently very small. 

 Every immature bird we saw was vigorous in the extreme and they 

 were all fat and well cared for, while hundreds of newly-grown birds 

 were seen in the air, flying with all the buoyancy of adults. 



After the Terns had become somewhat accustomed to our 

 presence, their attention was diverted by the arrival of a new 

 intruder. A big seal swam up inside the ledges within a few feet 

 from the nesting ground of the birds, and the way the colony went 

 for him was laughable. They dived at him, yelled at him, sur- 

 rounded him with such a din that he must have been confused, told 

 him in their peculiar dialect to be gone, and gave him no peace 

 until he slid back into deep water and hid his head under the waves. 

 They could have had no idea that he would do them any harm, but 

 he was out of place there and they did not want him. The Tern 



