LARIDE. 069 
the pebbles on the beach just above high-water 
mark, without any hollow being made for them; 
occasionally also they are placed in hollows in the 
sand caused by drift sea-weed. ‘The nests—if nests 
they can be called—are sometimes made in marshy 
places or on the borders of inland lakes. 
The food of the Common Tern appears to consist 
almost entirely of fish, and perhaps occasionally a 
few insects. It is a very pretty sight to watch this 
bird when fishing, flitting along just above the water, 
dropping down every now and then to pick up an 
unwary fish that comes rather too near the surface, 
and sometimes going out of its beat a little to give a 
look at the shallow pools that are left by the tide on 
the sand, to pick up some small fish or shrimp out 
of this natural aquarium. 
The adult bird in summer has the bill coral-red, 
black at the tip; the forehead, crown of the head and 
nape glossy black; the back, scapulars and wing- 
coverts gull-grey; the wings are much pointed, the 
first quill is the longest and much the darkest in 
colour, being dusky grey on the outer and part of the 
inner web; the rest of the inner web is nearly white, 
the shaft white; the tail is much forked, the outside. 
feathers being the longest, the outer webs of all the 
feathers pale ash-grey, the inner webs white; the 
legs, toes and webs coral-red; claws black. The 
following description of the young birds is taken 
from some shot by myself at Exmouth in October :— 
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