378 SEA-SWALLOWS. 



Terns, or Sea-Swallows, have very long and very pointed 

 wings, with forked tails and short feet, in which they resemble 

 Swallows ; but their mode of flight is very different, not 

 having that darting rapid course, but a sort of graceful gliding 

 motion — sometimes high in the air, then falling as if they had 

 lost their balance. Though perfectly web-footed, they never 

 swim, but take their food, consisting of small fishes or insects, 

 by descending to the water, and gently touching the surface 

 with their beaks. 



We have twelve species in this country, either regular 



Tne Sea-Swallow. 



migrants or occasional visitors. Those which breed here 

 generally lay three or four eggs, without any nest, preferring a 

 low shingly shore, on which, we believe, the bird sits in the 

 usual manner ; but as it has been ascertained that an American 

 species deposits her eggs in a similar situation, and leaves them 

 to be hatched principally by the heat of the sun — the parent 

 bird only sitting upon them during the night — it would be 

 worth an observer's while to look after our Terns, and see how 

 far they resemble their American connections. 



They are very tame ; and we have approached one of our 

 British species, the common Tern, as it rested on a patch of 

 mud, a boat's buoy, or a piece of floating wood, till we might 

 have almost knocked it down with a stick. They appear, 



