22 Mr. T. M. Savaj^e English on 



weather, fresh-water ponds are to be found, where, too, the 

 large land-ci'abs are least abundant. In Grand Cayman 

 this bird nests in May, and in the later summer months 

 seems to wander about the island in family-parties. 



Sterna antiUarum does not seem to come to Grand Cayman 

 except for the purpose of breeding, and then is only present 

 in comparatively small numbers — about 150 birds and fewer 

 than 40 nests with eggs or young was the maximum at any 

 one time in the only colony of which the writer has know- 

 ledge, and there were very seldom so many as this. The 

 islanders call them "egg-birds/' and the name perhaps 

 gives one of the reasons why there are not more of them. 

 June seems to be their usual month for nesting, but in 1913 

 a succession of misfortunes, due to cats [Felts domestica run 

 wild) and land-crabs, ended early in August in an abnor- 

 mally high tide washing away all the surviving eggs and all 

 the young ones except eight, which were accounted for by a 

 cat the following night. Some of the old birds stayed about 

 until the middle of the month, but did not try to nest again. 

 This may have been the end of the colony, particularly as 

 their sandbank was showing signs of being rapidly washed 

 away. 



This bird's nests are sometimes more or less made of 

 dry seaweed and similar material, but usually they are 

 nothing more than shallow pits scratched in the sand just 

 before the laying of the first eg^, which sometimes can be 

 seen lying on sand which is still moist, though the surface 

 of the sand surrounding the nest may be perfectly dry. 



Only two eggs seem to be laid, in size 1^ X | inches, and 

 in ground-colour varying from light yellowish-brown or grey 

 to nearly white. Their spots are often arranged spirally 

 and are usually dark brown or chestnut, while they vary 

 considerably in size and number. One type of egg has a 

 nearly white ground-colour with a few^ — perhaps two or 

 three, perhaps only one — large, very dark brown, almost 

 black, irregular blotches, and unspotted eggs occur. 



The downy young are as a rule of various shades of light 

 grey above, with numerous small dark, though not very 



