226 SWIMMERS. 



and fry, hovering, suspended in the air, for a moment over 

 their prey, Uke so many small Hawks, and with equal prompt- 

 ness dash headlong into the water after it, seizing it with the 

 bill, as the feet are incapable of prehension. The Silvery Tern 

 sometimes makes extensive incursions along the river courses, 

 and has been shot several hundred miles from the sea, its 

 principal place of residence. 



In the latter end of May or beginning of June the female 

 commences laying. The eggs are merely deposited in a slight 

 scratch in the sand, and left to hatch in the heat of the sun ; 

 the bird, as usual, sitting on them only during the night and 

 in wet and stormy weather. On approaching their breeding- 

 places the old birds assemble in crowds around the intruder, 

 and after a good deal *of vociferation, flying round in wide cir- 

 cuits, they often approach within a few yards of one's head, 

 squeaking almost like so many young pigs, and appear to be 

 very irritable and resentful. At other times, when not excited 

 or alarmed, they are tame and unsuspicious, particularly the 

 young birds, often heedlessly passing the spectator within a 

 few yards while tracing the windings of the shore in quest of 

 their prey. 



This is a bird of the tropical and warm-temperate regions, breed- 

 ing chiefly from the Middle States southward, and wintering in 

 Central America. The Nantucket Islands were a favorite resort 

 some years ago, but few examples are found there now. Occasion- 

 ally stragglers wander along the coast as far as Labrador, and a 

 few have been seen on the Great Lakes and in Minnesota. Its 

 voice is described as " a sharp squeak, much like the cry of a very 

 young pig following its mother." 



