180 Bird Nesting 



CHAPTER XII. 



^^^^IJ^FTER' my sumptuous dinner I put on my rubljer boots 



and explored the banks of the hike north of the 



railway. I came to a place wliei^e black terns were 



,,y „ ^ ^ numerous, and flushed one from a mass of dead float- 



Mt^J -j-j^. rushes; here I found its two eggs laid on the debris. 





^^' The nest was a very slight affair, just a few blades of 

 grass surrounding the eggs. I set to work and soon found a 

 number of eggs, but as it was yet a little too early, most of 

 the nests only contained two eggs. This species does not com- 

 mence to lay until the middle of June, and fresh eggs are to 

 be found up to middle of July. I soon collected a line series, 

 and it is surprising how difficult they are to find, so closely do 

 they resemble the dead rushes and debris they are laid upon. 

 Several times I almost trod upon the eggs, and I found I had 

 to use great care to avoid stepping on them. The nests are 

 very slight affairs in some cases ; the eggs were simply laid on 

 the masses of floating debris of last year's reeds, where the 

 water was a foot deep : but occasionally nests were found con- 

 sisting of a platform of grass or moss. The eggs vary consider- 

 ably : they are darker in colour than any of the other species 

 of terns. The ground colour is brownish olive, some having a 

 oreenish shade, and they are heavily spotted and blotched 

 with rich brown of every shade, from light brown to blackish 

 brown. They are also spotted with neutral tint or stone grey. 

 A series of over one hundred specimens before me show great 

 varieties in ground colour and markings. 



The white-w^inged black tern is included amongst Nortli- 

 American birds on account of a specimen being obtained in 

 Wisconsin in 1873. It was a female, and in the ovary were 

 well-formed eggs, so it was evident it would have bred in the 

 vicinity before long. 



The eggs of this bird are larger and lighter-coloured than 

 those of the common black tern. I have a series of eggs of this 



