378 BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



and other plants, which had been swallowed together with the 

 seed. These birds dive with great quickness, and use their 

 wings under water ; they sink so gently as to leave no ripple 

 showing where they went down, nothing but the small end of 

 the bill remains above, and this easily escapes observation, par- 

 ticularly among the bulrushes, to which they resort when 

 alarmed. Nothing was known of their nests, till Audubon 

 found one near the banks of the Wabash River. None have 

 ever been found in this State. 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



The CAYENNE TERN, Sterna Cayana, is common at the south, 

 where it breeds. Audubcn also found it breeding at Labrador ; 

 so that, although none have yet been seen here, they must pass 

 by us, and will probably be found to touch upon the coast of 

 our State. 



The COMMON TERN, Sterna hirundo, is common on our 

 coast, where it bears the name of Mackerel Gull, from its being 

 supposed to announce the arrival of that fish in its summer 

 quarters. In May, they prepare, if it can be called prepar- 

 ing, a nest on some rocky islet or sand bar, where their eggs, 

 are laid, with only a little sand scraped up to keep them in 

 place ; and in all pleasant days are left to be warmed by the 

 sun, the female sitting only at night and in foul weather. The 

 eggs are of dull yellowish olive, with dark brown specks and 

 blotches. The parents, though they appear so careless of their 

 domestic establishment, watch over it with anxious vigilance, 

 and are very bold in resisting intrusion. They breed at Egg rock 

 near Nahant. When the young are first hatched, they tear fish in 

 pieces to feed them ; afterwards they drop the fish among 

 them, where it is seized by the strongest ; but they find other 



