THE LESSER TERN 235 



water upon the small fish that swim near the surface. The 

 food of this bird is largely composed of fish, and this fare is 

 varied with crustaceans and other small marine animals. 

 From observation I am able to state that the young are fed 

 largely on sand lice, and even on beetles. In autumn this 

 fine Tern congregates into large flocks, and young and old 

 wing their way southwards to seas bathed in perpetual 

 summer. 



As the Sandwich Tern is the largest, so is the Lesser Tern 

 the smallest of the Terns that come regularly to this country 

 in spring to breed. This delicate little bird cannot be said 

 to be anywhere very common, and its breeding-places are 

 local. Probably, before the railway joined the busy centres 

 of industry with the quiet fishing- villages, the Lesser Tern 

 was an abundant species, and bred on most parts of the coast 

 suited to its needs now, alas ! it has become one of the rarest 

 of our sea-birds. I know of no place along the hundreds of 

 miles of British coast-line where this bird is common, or 

 where an extensive colony may be found and, curiously 

 enough, it is not known to breed on the famous Feme Islands. 

 I have seen it flying gracefully above the sea, close inshore, in 

 pairs and little scattered parties. Its habits are very similar 

 to those of the other Terns, but it prefers low-lying sandy 

 shores to rocky ones, and the mainland rather than islands. 

 This latter peculiarity is most probably the cause of its rarity, 

 for if it nested on islands there can be little doubt that it 

 would be much more abundant. It is a thorough bird of the 

 air almost incessantly on the wing, save when it seeks the 

 sands to sleep, or the water to rest and wash itself. It flies 

 along the coast in a slow fluttering way, ever and anon falling 

 like a stone to the water to pick up some tiny fish. The 

 Lesser Tern arrives late in this country, seldom making its 

 appearance before the middle of May ; and it leaves early in 

 autumn for its winter home along the coasts of Africa. Its 



