112 THE TERNS 



coloration. Mr. Oxley Grabham has noted two distinct types at Spurn 

 Point, one much yellower than the other. 1 I made a note of two 

 chicks (Dungeness) which had the ground-colour of the upper parts 

 sandy-grey, whereas some described (Thames estuary) by Mr. Hepburn 

 had the same sandy-yellow. 2 Grey or yellow, they are equally well con- 

 cealed by their coloration, when crouching among the shingle. It may 

 be worth adding that the two chicks I noted had the throat sandy- 

 grey, thus providing an exception to Naumann's statement that the 

 throat of the little-tern is pure white in the down stage. 3 



The chicks readily quit the nest, impelled no doubt by a desire to 

 seek shelter from sun, wind, or rain, under the shady or lee side of a 

 stone or plant. The chicks and fledged young are fed on small fish in 

 the same way as those of the larger species. The parents usually 

 descend direct on to the spot where the chicks are, but I have seen 

 them, when conscious of being under observation, alight some yards 

 away, then fly up again to alight nearer the chicks, and do this three 

 or four times before reaching their goal, a very different proceeding 

 from that of the ringed-plover, which is frequently found nesting 

 near them, and which, after alighting in the neighbourhood of 

 its nest, approaches it in a much more discreet fashion, by a series 

 of irregular short runs and with an air of making for nowhere in 

 particular. 



The little-tern's method of fishing is similar to that of the common 

 and Arctic. It hovers, as if suspended, several feet above the surface 

 of the water, its tail spread and slightly deflected, its beak usually 

 bent vertically downward ; it then drops head first, the wings part 

 closed, and enters the water with a splash, but without as a rule sub- 

 merging its whole body. It seems indeed almost at once to assume 

 the horizontal position and rise. When hovering, the birds have been 

 observed to "work themselves backward several inches," so as to 

 get in the right position for the plunge. 4 I have seen them, when 



1 British Birds, ii. 319. Zoologist, 1904, p. 173. 



3 Vogel Mitteleuropos, xi. 120. 4 Zoologist, 1904, pp. 173-9 (Th. Hepburn). 



