28O REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



the mouths of rivers. Their nests are placed so near to one another, 

 that those sitting actually come in contact. They lay two or three 

 eggs, which hatch in twenty days. These eggs are esteemed as a 

 very delicate viand : in the United States a considerable trade is 

 carried on in them. 



The Tern is found in all the regions both of the Old and New 

 World, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific. 



The representative species, Sterna hirnndo (Fig. 101), is very 

 common in France, on the shores of the Atlantic, and in the 

 Mediterranean. 



THE LESSER TERN (Sterna minuta). 



This smallest of the Terns has many habits in common with the 

 Sterna hirundo. " In the elegance of its buoyant flight," says 

 McGillivray, "as it skims over the water or shoots along its way 

 to and from its breeding-place, the tiny creature is an object of 

 admiration to every lover of Nature. You may see a pair coming 

 up from a distance, flying at the height of a few yards over the 

 waves, their long wings winnowing the air and impelling them on 

 by starts as they wind their way in undulating and graceful move- 

 ments. Suddenly their flight is arrested over a large pool left on 

 the sands by the retreating tide. With quick beats of their wings 

 they hover almost stationary over the water, with downward-pointed 

 bills, intently searching for their prey beneath. One drops with 

 upraised wings, dips for a moment, and rises with a small fish in 

 its bill, the other is equally successful. Onward they proceed, now 

 and then emitting their shrill cry. Far ahead is seen a flock engaged 

 in picking up their prey, and onward the stragglers speed to join 

 their kindred." 



The Lesser Tern has the bill slightly longer than the head, and, 

 like the Common Tern, slender, nearly straight, much compressed, 

 tapering, and acute ; the eyes and feet small ; plumage soft and 

 blended ; wings long, narrow, and pointed ; tail long and deeply 

 forked ; upper part of the head and nape black ; neck, back, and 

 wings light greyish blue ; hind part of the back and tail white ; 

 length to the end of the tail about ten inches; wings twenty-om 

 inches. 



This species reaches Britain in the beginning of May, and 

 settles along the whole eastern and southern coast, from the Land's 

 End to the Orkneys, but is rare on the west coast. The Firth of 

 Forth, the sands of Barry, near Dundee, a spot at the mouth of 



