ARCTIC TERN. 401 



minutes, and in some places it was difficult to move without 

 treading upon them ; a loose cloud of Terns of both species 

 hovering about uttering incessant cries, and darting down to 

 within a few feet of the invaders of their peaceful territory." 

 Mr. Wm. Thompson notices that it is common and widely 

 distributed in Ireland ; and Mr. Eyton says this Tern breeds 

 on the Skerries, about nine miles north of Holyhead ; but a 

 most unusual number of this species made their appearance 

 early in the month of May of the present year in and about 

 the estuary of the Severn, and up the line of its course. I 

 heard of them at Swansea, from Mr. L. Dillwyn, and Mr. 

 Bicheno ; great numbers were seen and many obtained. At 

 Monmouth the same thing happened. On the east side of 

 the Severn Mr. Robert Whitcfield, of the Water Farm, near 

 Bridgewater, sent me notice of the appearance of this unusual 

 visiter there. The following is an extract from the " Bristol 

 Mirror." " During the high winds that prevailed on Sunday 

 last, May 8th, our harbour and floating docks were visited by 

 large flights of a rare and beautiful species of bird, the 

 Sterna arctica, or Arctic Tern. The birds were assembled 

 in such vast numbers that two or three hundred were killed 

 with stones and other missiles, whilst several were caught 

 alive ; and so tame were they, that many were observed to 

 pitch on the backs of passers-by. This Tern, as its name 

 indicates, is a native of the higher Arctic regions, and has 

 been met with in all the late expeditions to the Polar Seas. 

 It is a summer visitant to the coasts of Scotland, and the 

 north of England, but is rarely met with more southernly, and 

 until the present, there was no instance on record of a speci- 

 men having been obtained in this neighbourhood. The ap- 

 pearance of such vast flights of Arctic birds, rare as a species, 

 in the very heart of a large city, is an occurrence as remark- 

 able as it is interesting. Flocks of these birds were also ob- 

 served the same day at Clevedon, Weston, and other places 



VOL. III. !^ D 



