THE ROSEATE TERN 277 



abundant. A large colony inhabits the Fame Islands. They breed 

 as far north as the Findhorn. Upon this coast it is called par 

 excellence ' The Tern ', all the other species passing under the general 

 name of ' Sea Swallows '. Its habits are so like those of the 

 Common Tern, to be described hereafter, that, to avoid repetition, 

 I purposely omit all account of its mode of fishing, and content 

 myself with quoting, on the authority of Audubon and Meyer, 

 incidents in its biography which I have not noticed in the Common 

 Tern. The former author says : ' Its cries are sharp, grating, 

 and loud enough to be heard at the distance of half a mile. They 

 are repeated at intervals while it is travelling, and kept up inces- 

 santly when one intrudes upon it in its breeding-ground, on which 

 occasion it sails and dashes over your head, chiding you with angry 

 notes, more disagreeable than pleasant to your ear.' Meyer, writing 

 of the same bird, says : ' The Sandwich Tern is observed to be 

 particularly fond of settling on sunken rocks where the waves 

 run high, and the surf is heavy : this being a peculiar fancy belong- 

 ing to this species, it is sometimes called by the name of Surf Tern.' 



THE ROSEATE TERN 



STERNA DOUGALLI 



Bill black, red at the base ; feet orange, claws small, black ; tarsus three- 

 quarters of an inch long ; tail much forked, much longer than the wings ; 

 upper part of the head and nape black ; rest of the upper plumage pale 

 ash-grey ; tail white, the outer feathers very long and pointed ; cheeks 

 and under plumage white, tinged on the breast and belly with rose. 

 Length fifteen to seventeen inches. Eggs yellowish stone-colour, spotted 

 and speckled with ash-grey and brown. 



Of this Tern Dr. M'Dougall, its discoverer, says, ' It is of light 

 and very elegant figure, differing from the Common Tern in the 

 size, length, colour, and curvature of the bill ; in the comparative 

 shortness of the wing in proportion to the tail, in the purity of the 

 whiteness of the tail, and the peculiar conformation and extra- 

 ordinary length of the lateral feathers. It also differs from that 

 bird in the hazel-colour and size of the legs and feet.' 



Roseate Terns have been discovered on several parts of the coast, 

 principally in the north, as in the mouth of the Clyde, Lancashire 

 and the Fame Islands. They associate with the Common Terns, but 

 are far less numerous. Selby says, ' the old birds are easily recog- 

 nized amidst hundreds of the other species by their peculiar and 

 buoyant flight, long tail, and note, which may be expressed by the 

 word crake, uttered in a hoarse grating key.' They rarely nest in 

 Great Britain. 



