COMMON TERN. 283 



the European coast of the Mediterranean^ and possibly in Egypt. It is a 

 summer visitor to the shores of the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the lakes 

 and rivers of Southern Siberia as far east as Lake Baikal and Central 

 China, and as far south as Turkestan and Cashmere. In the valley oi 

 the Obb it breeds as far north as lat. 64°; but in the valley of the 

 Yenesay, and throughout Eastern Siberia, it is represented by a nearly 

 allied species^ Sterna longipennis, which winters in Japan and China, and 

 differs in having a black bill and brown legs and feet, longer wings and 

 darker underparts. l^he Common Terns east of the Caspian have been 

 separated by Saunders under the name of S. tibetana : they are said to 

 be somewhat darker in colour, and to have on an average smaller bills 

 and feet, but it is very doubtful if they are specifically distinct. The 

 winter range of the Common Tern probably includes the whole of the 

 coasts of Africa, the Mekran coast, and India as far south as Ceylon ; it 

 is not known to have occurred in Burma. 



The Common Tern arrives at its breeding-places in the Azores by the 

 middle of April. It is said to pass Sicily, commonly on migration, in May, 

 and is one of the earliest Terns to arrive in Greece. It makes its appear- 

 ance in Asia Minor at the end of April. In Holland it arrives in May, 

 and is first seen on the British coasts during the last half of April or early 

 in May. The birds that breed in our islands congregate into large flocks 

 towards the end of July, and slowly wend their way south during August, 

 September, and October. It is said to leave Holland in September, and 

 the middle of that month is the date of its departure from the Azores and 

 Greece. 



Soon after its arrival the Common Tern retires to those parts of the coast 

 and the adjoining islands where it rears its young. It loves to make its colony 

 on low-lying islands and rocks at a distance from the shore, where it is 

 comparatively free from danger. It often visits inland sheets of water, and 

 it is very fond of following the course of large rivers. It may often be 

 observed fishing in the shallow water of estuaries or in quiet bays. Few 

 sights are more charming than a flock of these Terns feeding in a quiet 

 loch. When a shoal of fry is discovered, the graceful birds hover above it 

 in a confused, net-like, ever-moving mass, first one and then another 

 swooping down to the surface of the water to catch a tiny fish, or 

 more often plunging headlong down with a splash like a Gannet or a 

 Kingfisher. As the shoal passes on, the Terns follow in its wake, 

 ever and anon swooping down to capture the fish nearest to the sur- 

 face. Sometimes this beautiful bird attends the fishing-boats, hovering, 

 screaming in the air, and darting down to catch the small fish that are 

 thrown overboard, often securing them before they reach the water. The 

 Common Tern never dives ; it often plunges into the water like an Osprey, 

 and occasionally it swims a short distance, or alights on the water to rest 



