COMMON TERN. 215 



From the variety in the appearance of the eggs, it is pretty 

 obvious that the females indifferently and frequently lay in 

 each other's nests, in the manner of our common fowls in a 

 state of domestication. Though to all appearance thus aban- 

 doned to accident, the nests are constantly under the surveil- 

 lance of the Terns, and the appearance of an intruding visitor 

 on the solitary spot chosen for their breeding retreat fills the 

 whole neighboring troop with dismay and alarm ; and in 

 defence of their young they are very bold, clamorous, and 

 resentful, sweeping round and darting down so close to the 

 visitor as sometimes to touch his hat, making at the same 

 time a hoarse and creaking sound, and occasionally uttering a 

 plaintive, long-drawn 'ptee-way ; and when much irritated and 

 distressed by the fall of their companions or their brood by the 

 gun, we hear a jarring k'k, k^k, k'k, as well as a piping plaint ; 

 and at times they utter a bark almost like so many puppies. 

 On a rocky islet near Nahant, in the vicinity of Boston, known 

 by the name of the Egg Rock, thirty or forty pairs annually 

 breed, and among these, others are also distinguished by the 

 name of 'pee-boos, from the sound of their usual note. 



The young are often hatched at intervals of a day or two 

 from each other, and are carefully fed and watched for several 

 weeks before they are in a condition to fly. At first they are 

 fed on small fish and insects, such as grasshoppers and beetles, 

 the hard and indigestible parts of which food appearing to be 

 rejected by the bill in the manner of rapacious birds. The 

 young are afterwards fed without alighting, as they skim over 

 the spot; and then they merely drop the fish among the 

 brood, when the strongest and most active are consequently 

 the best served. The young at length launch out into the 

 marshes for themselves in quest of insects ; while thus en- 

 gaged, at the warning voice of their parents, or the approach 

 of an enemy, they instantly squat down, and remain motionless 

 until the danger be over. As soon as the young are able to 

 fly, they are led by the old to the sand shoals and ripples 

 where fish are abundant, and occasionally feeding them, they 

 learn by example to provide for themselves. 



