AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 229 



although to my mind it conveys a certain sense of 

 labour, is very graceful and buoyant, and a flock of 

 these birds engaged in fishing is one of the most 

 attractive of the many interesting sights that are to 

 be commonly met with " at the seaside." I well 

 remember the time when many pairs of this species 

 might be seen, and their eggs occasionally found, on 

 the coast between Folkestone and Hythe ; but I 

 understand that this locality is now so frequented by 

 featherless bipeds and their four-footed companions 

 and slaves, that the Terns have no chance of peace, 

 and of course as soon as the close season is ended, 

 they, in common with almost every other sea-bird, 

 are done to death by every loafer who can procure a 

 gun ; this species has the special disadvantage of 

 being a favourite object with feather-dealers for the 

 supposed ornamentation of feminine head-gear ; I am 

 glad to believe, however, that this class of atrocity 

 has recently met with a severe check from the action 

 of the Ladies' "Society for the Protection of Birds," 

 an association that cannot be too highly commended 

 or too widely made known. 



The Common Tern is found throughout the European 

 region ; I have observed it at various seasons on all 

 parts of the Mediterranean shores, and on several of 

 the lakes of Switzerland and Northern Italy, and 

 found it breeding on the islets of the great lagoons 

 of Sardinia in the neighbourhood of Cagliari ; it was 

 frequent also in the Straits of Bonifacio during the 

 first fortnight of May, but we could not discover that 

 it nested in that locality. 



