246 STERNIDJE. 



remarked by the Rev. George Robinson congregated in hun- 

 dreds six years previous. 



Seven of the eggs of this species which we obtained were 

 deposited in small cavities beneath blocks of stone ; no young 

 birds of any species being observed, from the constant " raz- 

 zias" of the eggs. 



Connected with an oriental myth, we may select the 

 roseate tern to be the subject which represents the amber 

 found in the sea to be the tears wept by the sea-bird in sor- 

 row for the bereavement of its young : 



" Around thee shall glisten the loveliest amber 

 That ever the sorrowing sea-bird hath wept.'* 



Habitat Eastern Europe. 



SPECIES 234 THE WHISKERED TERN. 



Sterna leucopareia. Natterer. 

 Hirondelle de mer moustac. Temm. 



THIS tern is one of great rarity in Ireland, only a single spe- 

 cimen having been obtained, whilst in England two instances 

 are recorded. The present specimen was shot by Mr. John 

 Hill whilst boating in the Bay of Dublin, and was in com- 

 pany with a flock of common terns when obtained. By that 

 gentleman it was presented to Mr. Warren, in whose collec- 

 tion it is preserved. 



Of considerable rarity in its European distribution, the 

 dealers in Paris expose for sale quantities of their eggs, as 

 also those of the white-winged black tern, which they remark 

 to have been obtained from breeding haunts in the south of 

 France. 



Habitat Eastern Europe. 



SPECIES 235 THE BLACK TERN. 



Sterna nigra. Linn. 



Hirondelle de mer epouvantail. Temm. 



THE BLACK TERN is the rarest of the more common species 



in its distribution, and occurs only in an occasional instance 



with us. 



Of extreme rarity in its adult black plumage, two speci- 

 mens were obtained ; one by Dr. Chute, who saw it flying 

 over a small lake in the county of Kerry, and another pro- 

 cured in the same county, and in similar plumage, in our own 

 possession. 



