CASPIAN TERN. 537 



Author notice of a Caspian Tern, shot in Norfolk in 1839 ; 

 one was killed on the 9th June, 1849 ; one in the same 

 neighbourhood in June, and another on the 16th July, 1850 ; 

 another in August, 1851 ; and an adult male in May, 1862 ; 

 all near Yarmouth. 



On the 17th May, 1851, an adult was shot, disgorging 

 several fish as it fell, at Caythorpe, on the borders of Lincoln- 

 shire and Nottinghamshire ; and in September, 1874, one 

 is said to have been killed near Filey in Yorkshire, which 

 appears to be the most northern occurrence in this country. 

 On the south coast one was obtained near Christchurch, 

 Hants, some years ago ;* and there are probably a few other 

 instances not enumerated. 



The Caspian Tern is nowhere numerically abundant, 

 although very widely distributed. It breeds in Sweden, from 

 the Gulf of Bothnia downwards, to Denmark, the nearest and 

 best known colony being on the island of Sylt. The Editor 

 is inclined to believe that a few pairs nest on the coast of 

 Holland, as on the 9th July, 1875, he saw at early dawn six 

 adult birds flying in pairs, and evidently going out to procure 

 food, near the mouth of the Maas. A mere straggler to the 

 coasts of France and the lakes of Switzerland, it breeds in 

 several localities on the shores of Spain, and also on some 

 small islands near Sardinia, although rare on the coasts of 

 Italy ; it has however been observed throughout the Medi- 

 terranean, and breeds on the Black Sea. Apparently a 

 resident in Egypt, it frequents the entire coast of Africa, 

 and Sir John Kirk found it breeding on the low islands off 

 the mouth of the Zambesi. A visitor to the islands of the 

 Indian Ocean, it nests in the Persian Gulf, and, crossing the 

 great mountain ranges on its migrations, it occurs in winter 

 in India and Burmah, and breeds in Ceylon. To the north 

 it can be traced from the Caspian, across temperate Asia, to 

 China ; and although there is a break of continuity in the 

 Eastern Archipelago, it is found residing on the coasts of 

 Australia and of New Zealand ; examples from the latter being 

 somewhat larger on the average than European specimens. 



* Cf. J. E. Harting, ' Handbook of British Birds,' pp. 167, 168. 

 VOL. III. 3 Z 



