84 THE TERNS 



thin newly sprouting marram grass, and one only among fairly thick 

 marram grass. Here it was the common-terns that nested on the 

 vegetation-covered patches. At the Fames, in 1909, the great 

 majority were nesting on the beach on sand or shingle, only a few 

 in the adjoining sea-campion. A few laid their eggs on the bare 

 rock. At Rhos Colyn, in Anglesea, a large colony nest on rocky 

 stacks, 1 similarly in Shetland 2 and many localities on the west coast 

 of Scotland. 3 Mr. H. C. Hart found nests in several places in the 

 Arctic regions on the bare shingle of the beach, and, in the same 

 region, they have been found in snow three inches deep. 4 



Enough has been said to show that much more evidence than we 

 have at present is required to establish beyond doubt that there is any 

 difference between the species in respect to the kind of nesting-site 

 each prefers. In the evidence, such as it is, and viewed as a whole, 

 no marked difference is apparent. It is worth adding that in estimat- 

 ing the value of evidence, it must be remembered that the ground 

 occupied by terns, in the latter part of the season especially, is not 

 necessarily that which they prefer, as persecution causes them to shift 

 their quarters. They may leave what, from their point of view, are 

 desirable quarters for less desirable. 



According to Naumann the common-tern always, and the Arctic- 

 tern usually, leave their nests unlined. 5 Howard Saunders reverses 

 the statement, and makes the common-tern occasionally add a few 

 cross bents. 6 Both authorities hold the unlined nest to be the rule. 

 This is, however, doubtful. Unlined nests are no doubt frequently 

 found. But so are lined. Of about eighty nests of the common-tern 

 examined at the Fames, Walney, Ravenglass, and Dungeness, I found 

 only two unlined. An example of a well lined nest is given on 

 PI. XLIII. At the Wells colony in Norfolk, Mr. A. H. Patterson 

 found the nests lined " with few exceptions." 7 Again, at Colchester 



1 Zoologist, 1905, 217 (Coward and Oldham). 



1 Evans and Buckley, Fauna of Shetland, 1899. 3 F. C. R. Jourdain, in litt 



4 Zoologist, 1880, 206 ; Ibis, 1877, 408. 6 Op. tit., xi. 134, 140. 



Manual of British Birds, 2nd ed., pp. 648, 650. T Zoologist, 1905, 260. 



