56 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



or Common Terns. It does not appear to make 

 any nest, but deposits its two or three eggs on the 

 bare ground, usually in a little hollow amongst the 

 shingle. These eggs very closely resemble those 

 of the Common Tern ; so closely in fact that no 

 reliable means of distinguishing them can be 

 given. 



LESSER TERN. 



This species (Sterna minuta] is by far the 

 smallest of the Terns that visit the British coasts in 

 summer to breed. It cannot be said to be any- 

 where common, and its breeding stations are few 

 and far between. Curiously enough, it is not known 

 to breed on that great resort of British sea fowl, 

 the Fame Islands. There can be no doubt that 

 this Tern is slowly becoming rarer, and in view of 

 this fact I do not feel justified in assisting its exter- 

 mination, by naming a single locality known to me 

 where it now breeds. The bird-loving reader will, 

 I am sure, appreciate this reticence. Small colonies 

 of this pretty Tern are situated here and there 

 round the British coasts, and in one or two more 

 inland localities. The partiality of the Lesser Tern 

 for the coast of the mainland, rather than for 

 islands, as a nesting ground, contributes largely to 

 the decrease in its numbers. It arrives on our 

 coasts in May, and is readily distinguished from all 

 its congeners by its small size. In its habits it is 

 certainly gregarious, but nowhere are its gatherings 



