as I could make out these were the only three pairs on the Fames that year, 

 and all the nests were quite close together on a stretch of shelving rock 

 covered with lichens and sea-pink. 



On the 2Oth May 1887, I observed two pairs of Roseate Terns on the 

 Bar off the Culbin Sands, Morayshire, and spent the greater part of the 

 day in watching them, and with great difficulty managed to find the nest 

 of one pair containing three eggs. The birds were very shy, and though I 

 was well concealed some distance from the nest, and the eggs were slightly 

 incubated, the female flew about for nearly two hours before she at length 

 went on to the nest. It was merely a depression in the sand with a few little 

 bits of bent round it. The bird stood with her wings elevated for a few 

 seconds before settling on to her eggs. The other pair quite baffled me. I 

 returned to the Bar on the 26th, and again saw the Roseate Terns, and 

 succeeded in finding two more nests after a day's careful watching, as there 

 were many nests of the Common Tern quite close. I spent two or three days 

 watching these birds, and counted seven pairs altogether on the Bar; two of 

 these were not nesting, as far as I could make out. Their habits do not 

 apparently differ from those of the Common and the Arctic Terns. The male is 

 very attentive to his mate while she is sitting, and often hovers over her in the 

 air, calling to her. He feeds her on the nest with small fish, and I twice saw 

 one carry a large sand-eel to the sitting bird, when they both devoured it, 

 tearing it up and eating it in little pieces. I endeavoured to find out whether 

 they returned the following year ; but Tern colonies are most unaccountably 

 shifty, especially if subjected to any disturbance or uneasiness, and as far as 

 I can learn, no Roseate Terns have been since seen at their haunts on the 

 old Bar. 



The eggs of the Roseate Tern vary in number from two to three, and are 

 difficult to distinguish from those of the Common and Arctic Terns. The 

 ground colour varies from pale buff to brown, more rarely pale olive -green. 

 The surface markings are dark brown, sometimes nearly black, and generally 

 are more like streaks than spots, each streak being slightly shaded towards 

 one end ; the underlying marks bear the same character, and are pale blue-grey. 

 The eggs are generally more pointed than the average Common Tern's egg, and 

 have a slightly pointed large end, and the texture of the shell is finer as a rule. 

 They vary in length from 1-7 to 1-6 inches, and in breadth from 1-3 to i-i 

 inches. 



Young in down are pale buff on the upper parts, blotched and spotted 

 with grey and white, and are white on the under parts. 



38 



