224 SWIMMERS. 



associated with flocks of the Great Tern. The particular 

 places of resort for the present species, according to Dr. 

 M'Dougal, are two small, flat, and rocky islands in the Firth 

 of Clyde called Cumbrae Islands, chiefly about Milford Bay. 

 On these islands the Common Tern swarms to such a degree 

 that it was scarcely possible to step without treading upon the 

 young birds or eggs. The new species here described was shot 

 by accident, without its being distinguished until it lay dead 

 upon the ground, when the Doctor's attention was attracted by 

 the beautiful pale roseate hue of the breast. There did not 

 here appear to be more than about one in two hundred of the 

 present with the Common Tern ; but they were at length easily 

 singled out by the comparative shortness of their wings, white- 

 ness of their plumage, and by the elegance and slowness of 

 their aerial motion, often sweeping along or resting in the air 

 almost immovable, like the soaring of a Hawk ; and they 

 were also distinguishable by the comparative inferiority of 

 their size. 



In the United States these birds are sparingly seen with the 

 Common Tern, as I have obtained an individual on the coast 

 at Chelsea Beach ; and they may breed on the neighboring isle 

 of Egg Rock or in similar places in the temperate parts of the 

 Union. 



This beautifully tinted and graceful bird is of rather southern 

 habitat, only a small number breeding northward of southern Mas- 

 sachusetts on this side of the Atlantic, though a few examples 

 have wandered along the coast as far as the Bay of Fundy. It is 

 almost exclusively a bird of the open ocean, seldom even frequent- 

 ing the salt-lagoons; but several have been captured on the Great 

 Lakes. Large numbers once gathered at Muskegat Island, one of 

 the Nantucket group; but of late years they have shared the fate of 

 all their kindred and been slaughtered by milHners' assistants that 

 their wings might adorn my lady's hat, until now very few remain. 

 Says William Brewster, writing of Muskegat : " Were it not for 

 man, — who, alas ! must be ranked as the greatest of all destroyers, 

 — the Terns would here find an asylum sufficiently secure from all 

 foes." He graphically tells of the shooting of hundreds of the birds 

 by yachting parties, "either in wanton sport or for their wings, 

 which are presented to fair companions ; " and adds : " Then the 



