AMONG THE WATER FOWL 



left the New England shores, though some linger 

 later, and I once saw a Tern of the common 

 species I took it to be on Christmas day. 



The common or Wilson's Tern is our most 

 abundant species, very similar in habits and appear- 

 ance to the Arctic Tern. It was years before I 

 could tell them apart, and no one can always feel 

 sure. The former kind has a paler bill, with black 

 at the tip, while the bill of the Arctic is all of a dark 

 coral red, and its breast is usually darker than that 

 of its relative. What a delightful panorama it brings 

 to my mind to recall the -various breeding colonies 

 of this species that I have visited ! Some were on 

 various rocky islands of the coast of Maine, and 

 suggest scenes of sunshine and fog, breeze and 

 storm, wave and calm ; others were at the Magda- 

 len Islands small groups of a dozen pairs or so 



on numerous lit- 

 tle islands in the 

 ponds, and es- 

 pecially one 

 great area of 

 sand between 

 the outer beach 

 and the lagoon, 

 where nests were 

 scattered along 

 for miles, con- 

 structed with all 

 grades of mechanical art, from a bare hollow in the 

 sand to a substantial bed of grass or seaweed. 

 Along the beach at this locality were feeding im- 

 mature Herring, Great Black - backed, Glaucus, 



142 



"CONSTRUCTED WITH ALL GRADES OF MECHANICAL 

 ART. FROM A BARE HOLLOW IN THE SAND." NEST 

 OF COMMON TERN, MAGDALEN ISLANDS 



