72 EGGS AND EGG-COLILECTING. 
THE ARCTIC TERN. 
Breeps on low islands and in suitable places along the 
eoast, chiefly in the northern parts of our kingdom. I 
have found most nests amongst the shingle. As a rule, no 
materials whatever are used. The eggs are two or three, 
varying from greyish-buff to buffish-brown (I have seen 
them occasionally pale blue), spotted and blotched with 
blackish-brown and underlying pale grey. The eggs of 
this bird run slightly smaller than those of the Common 
Tern. 
THE COMMON TERN. 
Tue situation, nest, and eggs of this bird differ but little 
from those of the Arctic Tern, except that the nest is often 
farther away from the water’s edge, and generally lined 
with bits of withered grass and weed. The bird is a more 
abundant breeder, however, round the English coast, and 
less numerous in Scotland. Its eggs run slightly larger, 
are not so boldly marked, and the ground colour is less 
prone to an olive tinge. 
THE LESSER TERN. 
One result of the recently-passed law for the better pro- 
tection of Wild Birds ought to be the stoppage of the 
decrease of this beautiful little Tern’s numbers. It breeds 
in suitable localities round our coast, depositing its eggs 
on the shingle without making any nest at all. These 
number two, three, and occasionally four, similar in 
coloration to those of the Common and Arctic Terns, but 
smaller in size. 
