The Terns. 



OF the Tern species the Roseate, or Sterna Dougallii, 

 is the most elegantly formed of all the kinds, but 

 it is, in the North of England at least, uncommon. 



Going back a hundred years or so, these birds were 

 peculiarly rare in and around the Fame group of islands. 

 In fact, for some years prior to the period named above 

 the species was represented by just a pair in the breeding 

 season. As years rolled on they brought others, till half 

 a century ago writers spoke of these birds as being 

 numerous, but in our day they have again vanished, and 

 only a few individuals are ever seen south of Scotland. 



Their breeding place on the Fames was formerly on the 

 outskirts of the station occupied by the Arctic Tern. 



All these birds are very light, the body being compara- 

 tively small, and the expanse of wings and tail so buoys 

 them up that when shot in the air they are sustained, their 

 wings fold above them, and they whirl gently down like 

 a shuttlecock. This bird is remarkably buoyant. They 

 are of most delicate form, the pale tint of the mantle, the 

 rosy hue of the under parts when newly killed, and by 

 the bill being black as far as the nostrils, the base of it 

 only vermilion-red. The forehead and crown passing 

 narrowly below the eyes, and terminating in a peak on the 

 back of the neck, deep black; the mantle and wings very 

 pale grey; rump and lower back, white; tail long, and 

 outer feathers narrow. 



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