ARCTIC TERN. 279 



THE ARCTIC TERN, STERNA ARCTICA. Hiron- 



dtlle de mer Arctique, Temm. The Arctic Tern of 

 British authors. This tern, ranging to a much 

 higher latitude than either of the preceding, would 

 perhaps have been more appropriately named Com- 

 mon than the last, for we consider it the most fre- 

 quent bird on our shores; it also seems to prefer 

 the shingly beach to rocks, and around Great Britain 

 seems, from all our information, to be . dispersed 

 pretty generally. We have observed the colony 

 on the Farn Islands, where the eggs are " deposited 

 on the bare sand or gravel." On the Isle of May 

 it is also plentiful, but breeds in a situation nearly 

 similar to the roseate. It stretches northward to 

 both Orkney and Shetland, and in the latter was 

 the only species seen by Mr. Dunn. The nest was 

 here made on the " gravelly beach, sometimes 

 amongst the short dry grass on the tops of low 

 cliffs." In one or two instances large flocks of this 

 species have appeared inland as if driven from 

 their course, these chiefly occurred in spring. The 

 harbour and docks of Bristol were visited by large 

 flocks during high winds that prevailed on Sunday 

 8th May, and two or three hundred were killed with 

 sticks and staves.* They here seemed to be quite 

 exhausted. Accounts of another large colony being 

 driven astray are given by Mr. Strickland in the 

 Annals of Natural History, and which seemed to 

 have spread over a larger extent of country. This 

 * Bristol Mirror, quoted by Mr. Yaxrell. 



