S82 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



November, some not until the beginning of December. The Scotia Expedition found 

 the period of incubation to be about twenty-five days. The young are covered with 

 black-speckled buff down, and have the bill and feet black and the egg-tooth white. 

 They leave the nest a few days after hatching and run about actively. They have a 

 piping cry. When they are about half grown and the quills are sprouting the tip of the 

 bill becomes white (Plate XLVI, fig. 9). At this age they can run fast and swim well, 

 readily taking to the water if pursued. When the colony is disturbed all the old birds 

 rise in the air and hover over the intruder, making harsh cries all the while. 



The Dominican Gull is three seasons in reaching maturity. In the first winter the 

 plumage is grey-brown with buflt specklings ; the bill is black with white tip ; legs brown ; 

 feet grey, darker towards the edge of the web; claws black. The iris is dark brown and 

 the eyelids grey (Plate XLVI, figs, i and 2). The second winter the grey-brown plumage 

 is heavily spotted with buff and white and the mantle is brown. The base and tip of 

 the bill are yellow and the centre is black. The iris is light brown and the eyelids are 

 dull red. The feet and legs are green-grey, the webs grey at their margins and the claws 

 are black (Plate XLVI, figs. 3 and 4). The third winter the mantle and wings are black, 

 and the rest of the plumage is white, except for some scattered dark feathers in the 

 head, neck, breast and tail. The bill is yellow, the mandible with an orange-red spot 

 and a few small black streaks above the angle of the gonys. The eyelid is red and the iris 

 light yellow. The feet and legs are yellowish green, claws black (Plate XLVI, figs. 5, 6). 

 In the fourth year, when the bird breeds, the wings and mantle are black, the rest of 

 the plumage being white. The bill is yellow, and the mandible red from the angle of 

 the gonys to the tip. The eyelid is bright red and the iris yellow, The feet are yellow 

 with a tinge of green, and the claws are black (Plate XLVI, figs. 7, 8). 



Sterna vittata georgiae, Reichenof 

 Wreathed Tern 

 (Plate LIV, fig. 2) 



The Wreathed Tern is a common resident round the shores of South Georgia. The 

 food chiefly consists of small fish and the birds have also been observed catching 

 euphausians swimming near the surface. Large flocks are often to be seen settled 

 on the beach or moraines near the sea. 



This species nests in colonies of from half a dozen to twenty or thirty pairs, often 

 some way from the sea. Inland the colonies are on moraines or screes, but one was 

 found on the beach at Albatross Island in the Bay of Isles in December, 1925. No nest 

 is built, but a hollow is scraped in the ground and a few small stones are placed round 

 it. The single egg is usually laid in the second half of November, but some fresh eggs 

 were found at the end of December, 1925 (Plate LIV, fig. 2). They were probably a 

 second laying after the first ones had been stolen by the Skuas. The egg is grey-brown 

 with darker brown and olive spots. It is very difficult to see as it lies in the nest. When 



