54 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 
as in the preceding species. The Farne Islands 
are, or used to be, a great breeding station of the 
Arctic Tern, and there I have taken great numbers 
of its eggs. The bird probably pairs for life. It 
differs somewhat in its nesting arrangements from 
the Common Tern, inasmuch that it never makes 
any nest. No lining of any kind is placed in the 
hollow which contains the eggs, and this hollow is 
generally selected ready made. Another peculiarity 
is that the eggs are far more generally laid nearer 
to the water; and this applies not only to the Farne 
Islands, but to every breeding place of this Tern 
that I have visited. The two or three eggs are 
laid in any little depression in the coarse sand or 
shingle on the line of drift, or amongst small 
pebbles, or even on the bare ground or rock. 
These eggs vary from buff to olive, and even pale 
bluish-green in ground colour, heavily blotched and 
spotted, especially at the larger end, with dark 
brown, paler brown, and gray. They are decidedly 
smaller than those of the Common Tern, more 
elongated in shape, and are much more olive in 
general colour. When disturbed from their eggs 
the Arctic Terns become very noisy, and rise in 
fluttering crowds above the sacred spot, continuing 
to fly to and fro, screaming anxiously until the 
intruder retires. 
