COMMON TERN. 467 



with the more plentiful species, although the arctic tern does not 

 appear to travel inland to breed as the Common Tern is known to 

 do. In the Outer Hebrides this tern breeds on various islands in 

 the Sound of Harris, and also on the rocky islets lying west of the 

 principal group many of them being uninhabited. It is likewise 

 tolerably common in some of the sea reaches in Ross-shire, and 

 occurs on all the known breeding stations for terns from that 

 county southwards. I have found several pairs breeding for 

 many years past on Inchmoin, an island in Loch Lomond. On 

 this island there is a large nursery of black-headed gulls, but the 

 terns keep by themselves, occupying a stony promontory at one 

 end of the island. During the breeding season, after the young 

 are hatched, the old birds may be seen high in the air above 

 the Loch Lomond hills, steering across to the Firth of Clyde 

 for fish to feed their nestlings. I have stood near their nests 

 and seen them arrive with these sea fish, which they sometimes 

 carried by the middle of the body. From this habit, which is very 

 noticeable, it would appear that the terns there prefer salt water 

 fish to those nearer at hand; and there can be no doubt that in 

 thus gratifying their partiality they are fulfilling an arrangement 

 in which those who practice the "gentle art" on the loch must fully 

 concur. 



In that beautiful piece of Scottish scenery Loch Sunart there 

 are several populous breeding places of this graceful and interesting 

 bird. These haunts are singularly enticing to an ornithologist 

 who, without seeking to molest the busy multitudes, contents 

 himself by watching their elegant flight as they whirl and glide 

 above their summer encampment. About the end of June, or 

 sometimes the middle of July, the congregations break up and dis- 

 perse, small flocks betaking themselves to the sheltered bays of our 

 western shores, travelling southwards as the season advances until 

 they altogether disappear. In April and May these flocks return 

 and frequently congregate in particular estuaries and rivers at no 

 great distance from the sea, especially in rough weather. I have 

 often at this season observed many hundreds at a time of both the 

 common and arctic tern on the Clyde opposite Dumbarton Castle, 

 and have remarked that their presence there always indicated an 

 approaching storm. 



The accompanying plate, in which an inquisitive sea-swallow 

 evidently betrays an acquiescence with the title of " Too many for 



