COMMON AND AKCTIC-TERNS 89 



I found an Arctic chick one hot day lying on the sand some distance 

 from its nest, and knelt down to take its photograph. No sooner did 

 it see the shadow cast upon the ground by my body than it rose, and 

 ran to nestle in the most confiding manner against the side of my leg. 

 That the chick will readily quit the nest to find shelter is evident from 

 an account sent me by Mr. C. J. King, who, as he lay hidden, saw a 

 chick of the common species leave the nest for a shady spot. This it 

 did time after time when put back. The peregrinations of the chick 

 are sometimes determined by its parents. On one occasion I saw an 

 Arctic-tern coax its chick to follow it by walking a little way from it, 

 then back, then on. When it had thus led it near to the desired spot, 

 it lay down, clucked much like a hen, and made with its body the 

 snuggling movements of a bird settling down to brood. The chick ran 

 quickly to it, and was soon under shelter. This occurred some 

 distance from the nest. 



On which day of its life the chick develops the instinct of fear I 

 am uncertain, probably after three or four days. The change in its 

 behaviour, when approached, is striking. It crouches until aware 

 that it is detected, then runs away, using its short wings to help it 

 over the inequalities of the ground. One young Arctic chick I 

 cornered showed fight, uttering a little harsh note of anger, and peck- 

 ing vigorously. The behaviour of individual chicks of course varies, 

 some being more apathetic than others. The young of a common- 

 tern, that might have been nearly two weeks old, allowed me to touch 

 it before it got up and ran away over the shingle. 



The young are fed chiefly on small fish by both parents. Accord- 

 ing to Wilson, quoted by Dresser and Sharpe, the parent common- 

 terns "alight with the fish they have brought, and, tearing it in 

 pieces, distribute it in such portions as their young are able to 

 swallow." 1 It is more than doubtful that Wilson ever saw this take 

 place, for not only is the beak of the tern ill-adapted for tearing flesh, 

 but the chicks both of the Arctic and common species have no difficulty 



1 Birds of N. America, quoted in Birds of Europe, viii. 

 VOL. III. M 



