392 LAEID^E 



have found the eggs laid among broken shells, sand, and 

 gravel, and sometimes surrounded with clumps of dry sea- 

 weed. 



The eggs, three in number, are seldom laid before the 

 last week in May, incubation not becoming general until 

 early in June. They vary much in colour from dark 

 brownish to light stone-buff, blotched with light and dark 

 brown. 



The mottled nestlings closely harmonise with their sur- 

 roundings. 



Considering tbeir small size, Terns are wonderfully 

 courageous in defence of their young and eggs. Birds of 

 almost any size, predatory or otherwise, are bravely con- 

 fronted, and as a rule successfully driven off. I have seen 

 Kestrels, Herons, and Hooded Crows, mobbed and scolded 

 to such an extent that they retreated without showing the 

 least resistance. 



Geographical distribution. 1 The Common Tern is re- 

 markable for its wide distribution as a breeding-species 

 It is found over Temperate Europe, while westward, it 

 extends to North America and eastward to Asia. It also 

 breeds in North Africa. On migration it reaches Cape 

 Colony, India, and other countries in Southern Asia, and 

 South America as far as Brazil. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Forehead, top of head, 

 and back of neck, black ; cheeks, chin, sides of neck, and 

 throat, white ; back, scapulars, and wings, dark * pearl' grey; 

 the inner web of each outer primary being marked with a 

 broad streak of very dark grey ; breast and abdomen, pale 

 vinaceous-grey ; tail-feathers, white, edged externally with 

 grey, which is darkest on the outer tail-feathers ; under 

 tail-coverts, white. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage. 



Adult winter, male and female. Forehead and top of 

 head, streaked and spotted with white ; breast and abdomen, 

 white, with the merest trace of vinaceous tint. 



Immature, male and female. Forehead, white ; top of 

 head and back of neck, streaked with blackish-brown ; back, 



1 On September 6th, 1906, I observed two Common Terns, flying 

 strong and buoyantly at about a distance of 1,345 miles west of the 

 British Isles, latitude 56 14' N., longitude 33 2' W., North Atlantic. 



