268 The Fame Islands. 



Sandwich, and roseate terns the two latter being 

 such rare birds that a sight of their nests and eggs 

 alone is sufficient to repay the trouble of a visit to 

 the Fames. The first of the two, however, though 

 rare elsewhere, are found here in large numbers, 

 the colony being a famous one ; while of the last 

 there are only a few pairs. The sight of these 

 graceful little birds sea-swallows, as they are 

 often called as they rise in countless numbers 

 when disturbed, is most beautiful, and it is 

 interesting, as one moves along, to see them 

 constantly rising in front of and settling down 

 behind one, as, especially when they have young, 

 they remain in the air but a very short time after 

 the person disturbing them has passed. The 

 eggs of the common and arctic terns are much 

 alike, and are very similar in colour. They are 

 generally of a buffish-grey, blotched and spotted 

 with brown. The Sandwich terns usually lay two, 

 and occasionally three, eggs of great beauty, which 

 also are subject to very great variation in colour, 

 some of them being nearly white, while in others 

 the ground colour is a rich yellow, and every 

 intermediate shade can be found, spotted, blotched, 

 and streaked with brown of different shades. On 

 these beaches, in addition to the terns, a few pairs 

 of oyster - catchers breed, laying their eggs in 

 curious nests, if so they can be called, formed of a 

 small collection of shells; and here, also, may be 

 found the stone-coloured eggs spotted with black, 

 so difficult to see among the shingle, of that 



