BRITISH BIRDS. 



85 



the rest of the Terns, with whom it does not 

 associate. The cry is shriller, and its evolutions 

 and turnings while on the wing, shorter and more 

 rapid. It seems to prefer the rivers, fens, marshes, 

 and lakes, to the sea. The nest is built among 

 reeds and rushes, in marshy places, with flags and 

 coarse grass, upon a tuft just above the surface of 

 the water. The eggs, four in number, are of a 

 dirty greenish colour, spotted, and encircled with 

 black about the thicker end. It feeds on beetles, 

 maggots, and other insects, as well as on small 

 fishes. Voyagers say it is met with at Hudson's 

 Bay, Newfoundland, and Iceland, and that it is 

 common in Siberia, and the salt lakes in the 

 deserts of Tartary. Our figure was drawn from a 

 preserved specimen in the Museum of Ravensworth 

 Castle. 



VOL. II. 



2 A 



