GAVIsE. ( 265 ) LARIDM. 



THE COMMON TEEN. 



PICTARNIE, TARNEY, TARRET, PICKET, SPURRE, SCRAYE, 

 KIRMSU. 



Sterna fluviatilis. 



We are safe and joyous when mad waves roll, 



We sport o'er the whirlpool, the rock, and the shoal ; 



Away on the winds we plume our wings, 



And soar the freest of all free things. 



ELIZA COOK, Song of the Seagulls. 



THE Common Tern, which is a summer visitor to the shores 

 of Scotland, is occasionally seen on the Berwickshire coast 

 from May to September, where it may be easily distinguished 

 from the Gulls by its smaller size and forked tail. 



I have sometimes observed it near St. Abb's Head, 

 whither it probably came from the Fame Islands, where 

 it breeds in considerable numbers. The food of this 

 species consists chiefly of the fry of fishes, sand eels, 

 and crustaceans. 



