The nests here \\ere plarrd >n the gravel aim UK; the dry seaweed and drift- 

 wood above high-water mark. 



Tin e^s of the Sandwich Tern are very handsome. The ground-colour 

 \aries from huffish brown to pure white, cream colour being the commonest; 

 there is also a faint olive-green variety, but this is rare. The surface spots 

 are dark brown, sometimes a purple black or rich red brown. The under- 

 markings, which are generally very conspicuous, are pale grey or greenish 

 purple. The surface-markings are almost endless in their variety of size, 

 shape, and colour; some specimens are covered with delicately shaded streaks, 

 lying diagonally to the longer axis of the egg, others have most of the marks 

 at the larger end, forming a zone, and some have curious scrawling marks all 

 over them. Perhaps the most handsome variety is that on which a huge fantas- 

 tically-shaped blotch covers nearly half of the entire surface. They vary in 

 length from 2'2 to 18 inch, and in breadth from i'5 to 1*2 inch, and are not 

 easily confused with the eggs of any other British bird. 



Young in down are pale grey on the upper parts, speckled and mottled 

 with greyish black, and pure white on the under parts. 



69 



