128



Rev. F. D. Blathwayt,



cloud, and flew about, over our beads, in all directions, looking

like a shower of huge snow-flakes. It is a sight, which, when

seen for the first time, cannot fail to leave a vivid impression

on the mind. The air above seems full of the dainty little

Terns, resembling big white Swallows, and the chorus of their

cries is almost incessant; while the shingle beneath is so thickly

covered with their eggs that it is quite necessary to pick one’s

way to avoid crushing them. Each bird lays two or three eggs

in a very scanty nest, sometimes quite close to high-water mark.

At the time of our visit many of the chicks had been hatched,

and were crawling about among the pebbles which they very

much resembled in colour. Occasionally a bird, leaving the

wheeling crowd above, would make a bold dash and almost

strike us, and one of the watchers showed us a scar on his head

caused by the bill of one of these little birds, which had

struck him with so much force, through his cap, as to draw blood

from the wound.


Robert Darling, another of the watchers, and a nephew of

Grace Darling, told us that there were two or three pairs of

Roseate Terns (Sterna dougal/i) nesting in the colony, and that

he could distinguish them by their harsher note ; but although

we scanned the fluttering crowd with our field glasses we were

not fortunate enough to identify this rare species.


On the Knoxes, a sandy ridge connected with the Wide-

opens at low tide, a very flourishing colony of Sandwich Terns

( Sterna : cantiaca) were breeding. It was easy to distinguish

these birds from the other Terns by their greater size. Their

beautifully marked eggs were laid in the merest pretence of a

nest, and were placed so closely together that a dozen or more

clutches could be seen at one glance. In the middle of this

colony we found four eggs of the Ringed Plover {/.Egialitis

hiaticola ) laid on the bare sand.


The common Tern {Sterna fluviatilis ) also inhabits the

islands, and probably many were breeding in the colony on the

Wideopens and Knoxes, but the majority certainly belonged to

the Arctic species.



