ARCTIC TERN. 287 



The favourite breeding-grounds of the Arctic Tern are on uninhabited 

 islands; and failing these it prefers a part of the mainland coast which is 

 little frequented, where it can rear its young in peace. In many places 

 the Common Tern breeds on the same islands, but in almost all cases each 

 species has its own colony. The breeding-season commences at the Fame 

 Islands in the first half of June, during which period fresh eggs may be 

 obtained. Its eggs are generally laid quite close to the sea on the coarse 

 pebbles, sand, and shingle, sometimes amongst drifted seaweed. A nest is 

 very seldom constructed, and if such a provision is made it is of the 

 slightest description a little hollow lined with a few scraps of dry grass 

 or stalks of marine herbage. The nests are often destroyed by high tides, 

 and the birds not unfrequently change their station year by year. The 

 eggs of the Arctic Tern are two or three in number, never four, and very 

 closely resemble those of the Common Tern, but are on an average slightly 

 smaller, generally much more boldly blotched, and the ground-colour is 

 much more often tinged with olive, and very frequently is a buffish brown, 

 much darker than the brownish buff of .the Common Tern. They vary in 

 length from 1*6 to T45 inch, and in breadth from 1'2 to I'l inch. 



When its breeding-grounds are invaded the Arctic Tern becomes very 

 anxious, all the members of the colony rising into the air and fluttering 

 above in anxious tumult, being joined by the Common Terns, both species 

 mixing indiscriminately. Should a Crow, a Skua, or a Gull make its 

 appearance near the colony of Terns, the Arctic Tern is the first to attack 

 the rash intruder, who is generally made to beat a hasty retreat. So close 

 are the nests to each other in some colonies that it is almost impossible to 

 walk without breaking the eggs. It is very probable that the Arctic Tern 

 only rears one brood in the year ; but, as every visitor to the Fame Islands 

 knows, should the first eggs be taken, as they generally are, the bird lays 

 again. Late broods are sometimes met with. Capt. Feilden found a 

 small colony of Arctic Terns on the 21st of August on a small island in 

 lat. 81 44' N. At this date the ground was covered with nearly three 

 inches of snow ; and in one nest, which contained a newly hatched bird, 

 the parents had apparently thrown out the snow as it accumulated, and 

 thus formed a barrier round their helpless offspring. As is the case with 

 so many shore-birds, the Arctic Tern does not sit much on its eggs in 

 the daytime ; if the weather is fine the sun performs a great part of their 

 incubation. 



The Arctic Tern is the commonest British species of the group to which 

 it belongs, and which vary very slightly in the general colour of their 

 plumage or in the successive changes which they undergo. There is little 

 diilerence in the colour of the sexes. The species contained in this group 

 mostly agree in having a black cap in the breeding-plumage. The black 

 extends from the nostrils to the nape, but does not reach below the eye 



