430 



NATATORES. BIRDS. LARID.E. 



that on the coast of Chili the Skimmers insert the 

 knife-like extremity of the lower mandible into the 

 gaping shells of the bivalve mollusca left nearly dry 

 by the retreating tide ; the mollusc, objecting to this 

 treatment, immediately closes his shell, and in so doing 

 of course seizes the bill of his enemy, who then drags 

 him from his retreat amongst the sand, carries him up 

 to the beach, breaks his shell open by a few blows, and 

 speedily devours its contents. The few other species 

 of Rhynchops are met with chiefly in tropical seas. 



THE COMMON TEEN (Sterna Hirundo)&g. 136. 

 The Terns, of which a vast number of species have been 

 described from the seas of all parts of the world, are dis- 

 tinguished from the Gulls by their long, straight, and 

 pointed bills, small slender feet, very long wings, and 

 forked tails ; from the latter characters, and their inces- 



sant activity on the wing, they are frequently known as 

 SEA-SWALLOWS. These are not the only points of 

 resemblance between the Terns and the Swallows ; in 

 their mode of flight there is some similarity, many of 

 them capture insects on the wing, and hawk about in 

 pursuit of them over lakes and inland marshes, and the 

 species met with in temperate climates are for the most 

 part summer visitors, and retreat, like their name 

 sakes, to warmer regions at the approach of winter. 

 The females lay from two to four eggs, either on the 

 bare ground or on the ledges of rocks, without any 

 nest; and the old birds exhibit much courage in defend- 

 ing their offspring from the attacks of other birds. 



The Common Tern is an exceedingly elegant spe- 

 cies, of a slender and graceful form, with long wings 

 crossing above the forked tail, of which the lateral 



Fig. 136. 



The Common Tern (Sterna hiruiulo). 



feathers run out into very long and acute points. The 

 whole top of the head is black, the back and wings are 

 pale gray, the whole lower surface white, and the bill 

 and feet coral-red. The whole length of the bird is 

 about fourteen inches. This species inhabits Europe 

 and Africa : it arrives on our coasts in May, and leaves 

 us in September. Its food consists of small, fish, and 

 although chiefly seen about the sea, it will not. unfre- 

 quently advance far inland along the course of large 

 rivers, and even sometimes take up its abode upon a 

 lake. The nest of this species is usually made upon 

 the ground in a marshy place.. Three other similar 

 species are met with in this country ; these are the 

 CASPIAN TERN (S.. caspia), the ROSEATE TERN (S. 

 Dougallii), and the SANDWLCH TERN (S. Boysii). 

 The former is a large species, measuring nineteen 

 inches in length, although its tail is much shorter than 

 that of the species just described. 



THE ARCTIC TEEN (Sterna arctica) has also some 

 resemblance to the common Tern, but the lower surface 

 is gray instead of white. This bird appears to advance 

 further north than the other species, being found 

 breeding upon the shores of the arctic seas in both 

 hemispheres. Its tail and wings are even longer than 

 in the species figured above. 



THE LESSER TERN (Sterna minuta) is a beautiful 

 little species, measuring only eight inches in total 

 length. It is widely distributed over the whole 

 northern hemisphere, and is not uncommon on the 

 British coasts. The top of the head is black, with a 



white patch on the forehead, the back and wings are 

 delicate pearly-gray, and the lower surface is pure 

 white. 



THE BLACK TERN (Hydrochelidon nigra) has the 

 tail less forked than in the preceding species, and its 

 plumage is of a dark gray colour, with the vent and 

 under tail-coverts white ;. the bill is black, and the feet 

 are reddish-brown, with the membrane not extending 

 much beyond the middle of the toes. The length of 

 this bird is nearly ten inches. It is found inland 

 about marshes, lakes, and large sheets of water. Its 

 food consists chiefly of dragon flies, beetles, and other 

 insects, which it captures on the wing in the manner 

 of a swallow. 



THE NODDY (Anoiis stolidus) is a species nearly 

 allied to the true Terns, but differs from them in the 

 form of the tail, which is rounded off at the extremity 

 instead of being forked. The plumage is of a dark 

 brown colour, with the top of the head buff, and the 

 back of the head sooty-gray; the bill and feet are 

 black. Its length is about fourteen inches. This bird 

 is found in the warmer parts of the Atlantic ocean, on 

 both shores of which it is well known, but can hardly 

 be regarded as more than an occasional visitor to the 

 British islands. It feeds upon fishes, which it captures 

 as it skims over the waves. The Noddy breeds on the 

 rocky islands of the Atlantic,. where it makes its nest 

 with a little sea-weed, but on the keys ; of the Gulf of 

 Mexico, where it is very abundant, it builds a regular 

 nest in a tree or bush. It lays three eggs. 



