470 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



some friendly travellers. In both these cases the birds showed no 

 fear, but dexterously caught their prey though repeatedly struck 

 at with the whip. Twice over, by stretching out my arm, I nearly 

 caught one of them as it poised itself for a plunge. On making 

 particular inquiry, I was told by many of the inhabitants of both 

 islands, that this habit of the tern is a constant entertainment to 

 those who cross the fords in wheeled conveyances. The pressure 

 of the wheels must bring the burrowing sand-eels momentarily to 

 the surface, and the quick eye of the tern at once enables the 

 bird to transfix them on the spot. 



I observed large flocks of this species on the Clyde opposite 

 Dumbarton Castle, on 21st May, 1868. The weather was rough 

 at the time and had apparently caused them to seek shelter over 

 smooth water. In situations where two or three species of terns are 

 found breeding in company, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish 

 the eggs of the Arctic from those of the common tern. In my 

 experience, however, I have seen that the Arctic Tern's eggs are 

 slightly smaller, and marked with fewer blotches these being 

 also larger than the markings of the common tern. I have also 

 observed that Sterna arctica often lays but two eggs, whereas the 

 other bird has usually, if not always, three ; so that in visiting their 

 haunts about the time the birds are beginning to sit, the collector 

 may almost rely on this difference as a ready means of detection. Mr 

 Elwes, when visiting the Haskeir Rocks in the breeding season of 

 1868, found this bird hatching in great numbers, and noticed that 

 none of the nests contained more than two eggs. Macgillivray, 

 on the other hand, states in his ' British Birds ' that the number 

 varies from two to four. 



THE LESSER TERN. 



STERNA MI NUT A. 



THIS graceful little bird, although not numerous in any part of 

 Scotland, is generally distributed over both the east and west coasts. 

 Its breeding haunts are usually on retired stony promontories or 

 mounds of shingle, over which the tides in summer do not flow. 

 In many of the localities extending from the Solway to the shores 

 of Inverness, these colonies are tolerably safe against intrusion, 

 and for the most part occupy a spot by themselves without 



