THE TERNS. 50? 



us; as is also the case in the neighbouring Skiirgard, 

 where, indeed, M. von Wright says, it gets scarcer every 

 year. If this be really so, it is probably owing to its nest, as 

 well as that of other sea-birds, being constantly plundered, 

 in a manner that I shall hereafter have occasion to speak 

 of. It is found, though sparingly it would seem, on both the 

 eastern and western coasts of Scandinavia ; but its limits to 

 the northward do not appear to be very well defined. From 

 M. Malm not making mention of it when enumerating the 

 birds frequenting the shores of the Icy Sea, or M. von 

 Wright not having observed it on the western coast of 

 Finmark, I am inclined to believe it is not found in the 

 higher latitudes. 



According to Nilsson, the Caspian tern is somewhat 

 solitary in its habits ; unlike others of its tribe, which 

 breed in colonies, it seldom happens that more than a single 

 pair nests in the same locality. 



The female lays her eggs on the bare rock, or in a hole 

 in the sand, without nest of any kind. In shape they 

 resemble those of the common hen, but are somewhat larger. 

 The ground-colour is greyish-yellow, and they are marked 

 with ash-grey and dark red-brown spots. 



The Sandwich Tern (Kentsk Tarna, or Kentish Tern, 

 Sw ; S. Cantiaca, Gmel.). This bird, so common in Hol- 

 land, would seem to be very rare in Scandinavia, for only a 

 very few instances are on record of its having been killed 

 there, and those in the southern parts of Sweden. It breeds, 

 however, in large numbers on the west coast of Jutland 

 the only part of Denmark where it would appear to be found 

 from whence its eggs, which are exceedingly well-tasted, 

 are even exported. 



