COMMON TERN. 277 



with a delicate rosy tint, which, in a few hours 

 after death, becomes paler, and in stuffed speci- 

 mens is generally completely faded. The plumage 

 of the winter does not seem to be authentically 

 known. 



THE COMMON TERN, STERNA HIRUNDO. Hiron- 

 delle de mer Pierre Garin, Temm. Common Tern 

 of British authors. This Tern is a much more un- 

 common bird than either the roseate or arctic. On 

 the eastern side of the island it is by no means fre- 

 quent, two or three pairs being all the number that 

 Mr. Selby has at any time observed breeding on the 

 Farn Isles, and further up the Firth we have ob- 

 served it sparingly, a few breeding on the Isle of 

 May. The ornithologist above quoted states that 

 it visits the western coast, and would almost seem, 

 comparatively there, to take the place of the other 

 two. Mr. Yarrell has given us frequent instances 

 of its occurrence on the southern coast, but we do 

 not trace it with authenticity northward to the 

 islands of Scotland, except that it is mentioned by 

 Mr. John Macgillivray on the outer Hebrides. In 

 its breeding habits it differs from the last, and re- 

 sembles more nearly the lesser tern, seeming to pre- 

 fer a shingly beach or low lying ground to rocky 

 islands. Mr. Heysham of Carlisle has mentioned 

 Rockcliff Salt-marsh on the Solway to Mr. Yarrell 

 as a station, and a few pairs breed on the shingle 

 above Skinburness, where there is also a small colony 



