42 THE BIRD WATCHER 
stuff of my cap, or Poul hardly have felt it so 
sharply. It is not only the skuas, then, that attack 
you in defence of their young. These terns, though 
so much smaller, do so too, and, as appears by the 
story, they have more than one weapon in their 
armoury. But a more interesting experience was in 
store for me, which brought still more forcibly to my 
mind that incident with the wounded tern to which 
I have before alluded. Walking on, I noticed a bird 
which, though a young one, looked almost in its full 
plumage, and which kept flying for a little, and then 
going down again at some distance in front of me. 
Every time it alighted, a cloud of terns hovered 
excitedly over it, and first one, and then another of 
them kept swooping down, so as just or almost to 
touch it, until at last it flew up again, so that I could 
never approach it more nearly. It certainly seemed 
to me as though the grown community were trying to 
get this young one to fly, so as to be out of danger, 
and this they always succeeded in doing. I do not 
think they really prevented me from catching the 
bird, for, no doubt, it would have flown of itself 
before very long; but what interest and sympathy 
shown! Moreover, had I been pursuing it with a 
gun it might have made all the difference. 
So, too, it must be considered how lethargic these 
young terns are before they can fly, and how easily 
they then let themselves be caught, though able to 
run quickly. When noticed, or approached closely, 
they crouch, but though this is probably due to an 
