252 , Natural History Bulletin. 



numbers of this species were seen near Dog Head, and a 

 breeding place is undoubtedly not far distant. Breeds within 

 the Arctic Circle, (MacFarlane.) and winters as far south as 

 South America. 

 Two specimens secured; both males in full summer plumage. 



Sterxa tschegrava Lepech. Caspian Tern. One spe- 

 cimen of this magnificent tern was shot by Mr. Smith on 

 Crow-Duck Lake. I do not think we saw any others. The 

 specimen secured was in high breeding colors, with the bill an 

 intense coral red. Thompson does not record this species 

 from Manitoba; neither does MacFarlane include it in his 

 species nesting within the Arctic Circle. 



Sterna hirundo Linn. Common Tern. Very abundant 

 on Cedar Lake, where I found a breeding place on a small 

 rock}^ islet near the south shore. As we approached these 

 rocks in a canoe, we saw that there was some unusual excite- 

 ment among the terns, which were wheeling around in the air 

 with fierce screams. We soon discovered that the cause of 

 the disturbance was a couple of herring gulls, which were 

 hovering over the water near the rocks with evil intentions, in 

 the shape of a determination to capture some young terns, not 

 yet able to fly, taking their first lesson in swimming. The 

 courage with which the terns fought off the gulls, with savage 

 thrusts and angry cries, excited the admiration of the Indians, 

 but did not prevent them from capturing the 3'oung terns. On 

 the rocks were eggs and young birds in every degree of devel- 

 opment, from individuals just out of the figg, and not yet dry, 

 to birds nearly ready to fly. There was no nest, the eggs being 

 deposited in depressions of the rocks. The protective colora- 

 tion of both eggs and young was highly efficacious. Too lit- 

 tle attention has, in my opinion, been paid to the coloration of 

 young birds as having been rendered protective by natural 

 selection. It is highly improbable, for instance, that the col- 

 ors of the downy young of gulls and terns represent the 

 ancestral forms. A much more rational view, it seems to me, 

 is that they were attained by natural selection for protective 



