552 LARIDiE. 



reach tbe water. In pursuit of their prey they frequent the 

 shallow estuaries and inland waters, rather than the open 

 sea ; and in Holland, where these Terns may he seen on the 

 canals in the towns, the ornamental fish-ponds have to be 

 covered over with netting to preserve their inmates. The 

 Editor was amused one September day at Utrecht, by watch- 

 ing the ineffectual ' stoops ' of some young Terns which 

 had not yet had time to gain experience of the nature of the 

 obstacle. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., has given an inter- 

 esting account of two nestlings which were reared by Mr. 

 Green, taxidermist, of Stockton-on-Tees. So attached did 

 they become to him, that they answered to his call or 

 whistle, and after an absence of a fortnight, they renewed 

 an intimacy which lasted till the October migration. 



In the adult bird in summer the bill is coral red, the point 

 black ; irides dark brown ; forehead, crown, and nape, black ; 

 back and wings ash-grey ; outside web of the first primary 

 slate-grey, the shaft white ; a broad streak of slate-grey 

 next the shaft on the inner web, followed by light-grey 

 margins ; tail-coverts white ; outer webs of tail-feathers ash- 

 grey, inner webs white ; chin, neck, breast, and under sur- 

 face, dull white ; legs, toes, and membranes, coral red. The 

 whole length of the bird is fourteen inches and a quarter ; 

 from the wrist to the end of the longest quill-feather ten 

 inches and a half. 



A young bird killed in August has the point of the beak 

 dark brown, the base reddish-yellow ; forehead dull white ; 

 posterior part of the crown, the ear-coverts, and the occiput, 

 black ; chin and neck, all round, white ; back and wing- 

 coverts ash-grey, each feather margined with ash-brown and 

 white ; outer web of the first quill-feather black ; the others 

 ash-grey ; under surface of the body white ; legs, toes, and 

 membranes, reddish -brown. In winter the colours of the 

 bill and legs fade in both young and old birds. The downy 

 nestling is of a yellowish-brown, streaked and spotted with 

 l)lack on the upper parts ; chin and throat, sooty-brown ; 

 under parts white, tinged with buft' on the flanks. 



