234 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



very good description of these birds as he found them in 

 Kerguelen Island. He says : — ' ' They dive readily from a 

 considerable height in the air, rarely missing their mark, a good- 

 sized crustacean, which seems to constitute their sole diet. During 

 the pairing season, October, they remind one forcibly of the 

 common sparrow, curveting round one another, with wings half 

 spread and constantly chattering. They are bold, showing 

 scarcely any fear of man. They nest on rather high and broken 

 ground, usually under the lee of a tuft of grass, and with little 

 or no preparation. Sometimes a few dried stalks are placed 

 together in the bottom of a barely perceptible cavity ; oftener a 

 tuft of dead azorella leaves, found ready to hand, serves their 

 turn. The nests are built not far from the sea, usually on the 

 slope of a hill-side, where drainage is good, and generally there 

 are a good many near together. Upon the approach of man, dog, 

 or sea hawk, a warning scream is sounded, and the whole colony 

 at once fly up and make common cause against the intruder. The 

 sea hawk is actually afraid of them, and it is a steady-nerved 

 man who will not dodge the vicious swoops made from time to 

 time at his head. So near do they come on these occasions, that 

 most of my specimens were knocked down with stones when 

 flying." The eggs are olive-buff, spotted and streaked with 

 blackish-brown and grey; the length is about 1.8 in. 



The White-fronted Tern.— Tara. 



Sterna frontalis. 



White, with the back and wings pale grey. The top of the head and 

 back of the neck black. A white line over the bill. Bill black; legs and 

 feet reddish brown; eye black. Length of the wing, 10.5 in.; of the 

 tarsus 0.75 in. Egg — Yellowish brown, blotched with grey and black; 

 length, 1.7-5 in. New Zealand, Chatham Islands. 



This is essentially a sea-coast tern, as it never goes far inland. 

 It is stated that the liveliness of its movements on the wing, 

 especially the rapidity with which it drops from a great height 

 to secure its finny prey, frequently renders it an object of remark 

 to the dwellers on the sea-shore. It deposits its eggs on the bare 

 rock, without the slightest protection, at about five or six feet 



