282 BRITISH BIRDS. 



or sleep. Its short legs prevent it from walking very well ; and it is rarely 

 seen on the ground except at its nest or when feeding its young. Its true 

 province is the air, and in power of wing and gracefulness of motion it 

 yields the palm to few if any other birds. The Terns have not inaptly been 

 termed " Sea-Swallows •/' but their flight is very different from that of the 

 Swallow, and is without its impetuous dash. They have long, pointed 

 wings and a delicately forked tail ; but they fly along in a rather slow and 

 easy manner, putting the observer in mind of a Gull. Sometimes, however, 

 they skim along with great speed, turn, twist, and poise with wonderful 

 grace, and often hover above the bright blue water like large animated 

 snowflakes. Perhaps their powers of flight are seen to best advantage when 

 two birds are tojdng with each other in the pairing-season, or are engaged 

 in battle royal for the possession of a little fish. Their erratic actions 

 are accompanied by their peculiar cries, which serve to increase the interest 

 of their movements. Although so well adapted for an aerial life, the Common 

 Tern does not fly much in stormy weather ; and Macgillivray says that it 

 often shelters from the elements by lying on the shore, which it frequently 

 does when gorged with food. 



The food of the Common Tern is principally composed of fry, sand-eels, 

 crustaceans, and small fish, which are almost exclusively captured on the 

 wing ; and sometimes the bird may be seen perched on the old piles in 

 harbours and sea-locks, every now and then leaving its station to swoop 

 down to the water and capture a sand-eel or a small fish. The note of the 

 Common Tern, when it is alarmed for the safety of its eggs, is an angry 

 kik, sometimes repeated two or three times. Its ordinary call-note is a 

 long-drawn kr-r-ee-e. 



One of the most important breeding- stations of the Common Tern in 

 the United Kingdom is the Fame Islands. It arrives at its old summer- 

 quarters during the last half of April, coming for a short time every 

 morning, remaining longer at each successive visit until it commences to 

 breed. The eggs are laid during the first half of June, about a fortnight 

 later than those of the Sandwich Tern. Of the habits of this bird, Dixon, who 

 was at the Fames in the breeding-season of 1880, writes : — " As a rule, I 

 found the breeding- grounds of the Common Tern further from the water 

 than those of the Arctic Tern, amongst the grass and sea-campion on the 

 higher parts of the island. As our boat approached the nursery of this 

 Tern, the rattle of the oars in the rowlocks disturbed numbers of them 

 that were basking on the beach or floating on the little pools. They soon 

 took wing and flew lightly round us ; and as we landed others rose 

 from all parts of the island, and the air was speedily filled with screaming 

 Terns. On the beach we passed numerous eggs of the Arctic Tern laid 

 amongst the shingle, and their owners fluttered just above our heads with 

 anxious cries. It was a pretty sight, and one not likely to be forgotten. 



