254 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



picture and the limitations of reproduction in black 

 and white. The young Tern upon the sand is 

 really far more conspicuous in the illustration than 

 in a natural state, and it must be borne in mind 

 that, in looking at a small picture, the eye is not 

 confused by a variety of fine shades of colour or 

 loss of that quick and certain perception produced 

 by wandering over an infinite number of objects 

 of similar size, shape, and appearance, to be met 

 with on a rough, shingle- covered beach. 



What puzzles me greatly about protective 

 coloration is that, whilst these young birds 

 instinctively recognise its value, some of their 

 parents do and others do not appear to do so. 

 As a rule, Sandwich Tern's eggs harmonise closely 

 with their surroundings, and even the experienced 

 field naturalist has to exercise a great deal of care 

 to avoid treading upon a clutch when visiting a 

 breeding station. A friend of mine told me a few 

 years back that he had once visited a colony of 

 these birds on an island where the natural breeding 

 accommodation was so Limited that many of them 

 had conveyed patches of pebbles on to the grass, 

 and laid their eggs thereon. We both recognised 

 this as a wonderful instance of a knowledge of the 

 value of protective coloration; but I must confess 

 that last summer at the Fame Islands my faith 

 in the wisdom of these birds received a rude shock 

 when I met with five or six clutches of eggs lying 

 most conspicuously on small circular patches of 

 broken mussel shells, the dark blue of which con- 

 trasted violently with the golden grey of the sand. 



I saw a Sandwich Tern's nest with four eggs 

 in it, and Watcher Patterson told me that he had 

 once found an Arctic Tern's nest containing five 

 doubtless the production of two birds. 



