80 THE TERNS 



On arriving at their breeding-grounds they drop, as it were, suddenly 

 into it from the sky. 1 



The common-tern has been seen arriving at its summer quarters 

 in pairs as well as flocks. 2 In respect to the Arctic I can find no 

 definite information, but it is probable that both species, like many 

 other birds, pair for life. The fighting that takes place may partly, 

 if not wholly, be accounted for by the presence of males not previously 

 paired or that have lost their mates. 



Not having seen either species immediately after its arrival, I 

 do not know whether there is a love-display different from that which 

 may be seen later when the birds have settled down. Probably there is 

 not, for generally birds display in the same way before and after the 

 actual winning of a mate, when such is necessary, which is not likely 

 to be frequently the case with species that pair for life. The displays 

 of the common and of the Arctic-tern, in the form that I have often 

 witnessed it, are without any noticeable differences. They are most 

 frequently associated with the feeding of the hen by the cock. The 

 former, even before she has finally chosen the exact position of her 

 nest, likes to stand near where it is to be and there await the return of 

 her mate, who is expected to spend a large part of his time in zealous 

 pursuit of dainties for the gratification of her palate. The presenta- 

 tion to her of the dainty, be it fish or crustacean, is accompanied by 

 a ritual which, as far as the male is concerned, varies little. He 

 alights, erects his tail stiffly, half spreads his wings so that they form 

 with his back a more or less continuous surface, something like the 

 top of a flat-iron, erects his neck just as stiffly as his tail, points his 

 beak heavenward, and, with the fish hanging therefrom, patters round 

 about his mate with precise little steps and a lofty air of doing some- 

 thing more than usually meritorious. The same attitude is assumed 

 by the sandwich and lesser-terns, and is shown on Plates 102, 98. The 

 behaviour of the hen varies according to her appetite. If she is in 



1 Naumann, Vdgel Mitteleuropas, xi. 131, 141 ; Auk, xiii. 51 (G. H. Mackay). 



2 Naumann, op. cit., p. 131 ; Bulletin of the Nuttal Ornithological Club, iv. 13 (W. Brewster). 



