SANDWICH TERN. 273 



breeding-range. The European birds winter on the southern shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and throughout West Africa down to the Cape. It is not 

 known to breed in Africa, but is said to be a resident in the Canaries. 

 The birds breeding on the islands in the Caspian appear to winter on the 

 coasts of Arabia, South Persia, and Scind, but it is not known that they 

 visit the east coast of Africa. On the American continent the Sandwich 

 Tern breeds on the coasts of all the Atlantic States, and in Central 

 America as far south as Honduras ; it winters on the Atlantic coasts of 

 South America as far south as Bahia, and crosses the Isthmus to the Pacific 

 coast of Guatemala. Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway regard the 

 American Sandwich Terns as subspecifically distinct from those of the Old 

 World; they state that in American examples the white margin of the 

 inner web of the outer primaries does not reach to the tips of the feathers, 

 as it does in newly moulted adult European birds. The primaries of 

 immature birds and of those in abraded plumage from the Old World re- 

 semble American examples in this respect. If these diiferences prove to 

 be constant, the American Sandwich Tern must bear the name of Sterna 

 cantiaca acuflavida. 



As may be inferred from its range, the Sandwich Tern is preeminently 

 a sea-bird and is rarely seen inland. Few birds rival it in its power of 

 rapid or sustained flight. Like the Swallow, it almost lives in the air ; 

 but instead of hawking like that bird and the Marsh-Terns in pursuit of 

 insects, it fishes for its food in the water, hovering over the surface for a 

 moment like a Kestrel, and suddenly dropping down on a fish like an 

 Osprey or a Kingfisher. Even storms do not drive it inland ; and it is espe- 

 cially fond of seeking its prey amongst the breakers, where the angry waves 

 and the shallow water put the fishes at its mercy. It is a wild and wary 

 bird, and to study its habits it must be sought at its nesting-colonies. 



To any one anxious to learn something of the breeding-habits of sea- 

 birds, I know of no place more interesting than the Earne Islands. They 

 lie about five miles off the coast of Northumberland, and may easily be 

 reached in a fishing-boat from Bamborough or North Sunderland. I have 

 visited them repeatedly during the last twenty years, and on each visit have 

 been more charmed than before. The first half of June is the best time of 

 the year ; and to give the reader an idea of the riches of the locality, I copy 

 from my journal the list of eggs taken on the 19th of June, 1870 : — 



Sandwich Tern 149 



Common Tern 13 



Arctic Tern 40 



Lesser Black-backed Gull 56 



Carried forward 258 



VOL. III. T 



