A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



four at one shot, which are in the Dyke Road 

 Museum at Brighton. A flock of eight was 

 seen on Breydon 22 April, igoi {Zoologist, 

 1901, p. 88), and this bird is perhaps now an 

 annual summer visitant there, but it has only 

 once been identified on the Suffolk coast or 

 inland waters, when two were seen on Fritton 

 Lake in the year mentioned above (Leathes). 



240. Gull-billed Tern. Sterna ang/ica, Mon- 



tagu) 



A rare summer visitant of which there is 

 no record except from Breydon, where eight 

 or nine have been shot, the last occurrence 

 being on 5 September, 1896 [Zoologist, 1897, 

 p. 132). A Breydon specimen shot in April, 

 1849, is in the Bury Museum. On the wing 

 it would be difficult to distinguish this bird 

 from the more common Sandwich tern. 



241. Caspian Tern. Sterna caspia, Pallas. 



Mr. Yarrell states that three or four of this 

 species were once seen at Aldeburgh and one 

 of them shot. As a rare summer visitant it 

 has occurred several times on Breydon, where 

 one was seen on two successive days in July, 

 1901 [Zoologist, 1902, p. 91), and another 24 

 July, 1902 [Zoologist, 1903, p. 132). The 

 geographical range of this fine species is very 

 extensive both in the old and new world 

 (Saunders' Manual, p. 642). 



242. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca (J. F. 



Gmelin) 

 This is the largest of the five species of 

 terns which still breed in Britain, but in 

 Suffolk it is now only a visitant, though 

 there is some evidence that it used to breed. 

 Bewick quotes from Latham that ' it is pretty 

 common on the Suffolk and Kentish coasts in 

 the summer months, breeds there in the 

 month of June,' and this would be towards 

 the close of the eighteenth century. About 

 fifty years later in 1846 or thereabouts Mr. 

 T. M. Spalding in his Catalogue previously 

 referred to mentions it simply as ' summer 

 visitor,' using precisely the same words for 

 the wryneck. It formerly bred near the 

 Kentish port from which its name is derived, 

 and still breeds abundantly on the Fame 

 Islands and less numerously in other places in 

 England. As there could hardly be a locality 

 better suited to it than the Orford beach, with 

 a tidal river on one side and the sea on the 

 other, it is quite possible that like the oyster- 

 catcher it may return to its old breeding- 

 grounds, especially as it enjoys the benefit of 

 the strictest protection on the Fame Islands 

 and also of the extension of the close-time to 



I September, so with the increase in its 

 numbers new colonies may be formed. The 

 Sandwich tern can be recognized by its large 

 size, black legs and perfectly white under- 

 parts, and its very beautiful eggs are unlike 

 those of any other British bird. 



243. Roseate Tern. Sterna dougalliy Mon- 



tagu 

 In Mr. Spalding's list just referred to he 

 simply mentions ' Roseate Tern. Orford.' 

 This seems to indicate that he regarded that 

 locality as a regular haunt, and he was so 

 careful an observer, and the bird is one so 

 easily recognized alive or dead, that there 

 need be no hesitation in admitting the bird 

 to the Suffolk list. It probably bred, and is 

 believed to have done so in Norfolk recently 

 (Patterson). Mr. Booth saw one on Breydon, 

 26 May, 1 87 1 [Birds of Norfolk, iii. 300). 



244. Common Tern. Sterna fluviatilis, Nau- 



mann. 

 Locally, Cob, Sea-swallow. 

 This lovely bird is a summer migrant, breed- 

 ing in fair numbers on the now ' protected 

 area ' of Orford beach, where it is on the 

 increase. Thirty or forty years ago the nests 

 used to be mercilessly robbed by people who 

 went down with dogs trained to find the eggs, 

 and as recently as 1878 over one hundred 

 were taken in a day. Mr. Hele states that 

 they used also to breed at Thorpe. The 

 Orford terns have been seen to mob a hare 

 which ran across their breeding ground (C. J. 

 Palmer). 



245. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura (yiAnvaiinn) 

 A spring and autumn visitant which may 



have bred, but there is no absolute proof of 

 its having done so. It is very like the com- 

 mon tern, but has a longer tail, shorter legs, a 

 smaller bill and underparts of a darker grey. 

 The young of the year are not easy to dis- 

 tinguish, and the legs are the best guide, being 

 pinkish in this species and yellowish-brown in 

 the common tern. 



246. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. 

 Locally, Reek or Ric, from its cry. 



This graceful little bird is a summer 

 migrant, arriving early in May and breeding 

 on the Orford beach. There is also a colony 

 on a shingle bank near Southwold (Rev. 

 F. C. R. Jourdain). Few birds have bene- 

 fited more by the protection extended to eggs 

 and parents during the last few years than 

 the terns of the east coast. Both the com- 

 mon and lesser terns are occasionally met 

 with inland at the time of the spring migra- 



210 



