38 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



I.ESSKR TERN'S KOOS. 



bird to create a hollow for their recep- 

 tion. The eggs generally number two 

 or three, although as many as four may 

 be met with. They vary from pale 

 brown to stone yellow in ground 

 colour, and are marked with grey and 

 dark chestnut-brown spots and blotches. 

 At Ravenglass, in Cumberland, where 

 our photographs were taken, the watcher 

 has an ingenious method of circumventing 

 the collector by marking every Lesser 

 Tern's egg he finds with an indelible ink 

 pencil. When my friend, Mr. Jasper 



Atkinson, of Leeds, showed me a clutch 

 of eggs streaked and scrawled over I 

 was bewildered until the reason was 

 explained to me. 



During dry windy weather this species 

 must sometimes suffer calamity in the 

 laying season from a curious source. 

 Whilst waiting to take the photograph 

 from which the accompanying photo- 

 gravure was reproduced, I noticed that 

 if the Tern remained away from her 

 eggs for a little while the drifting sand 

 almost covered them over, and she was 

 compelled to remove it before sitting 

 down to incubate them. When the 

 wind was blowing its hardest she sat 

 with her bill pointing straight in the 

 direction from which it came, and, with 

 half-closed eyes, patiently endured the 

 inconvenience, occasionally shaking the 

 fine sand from her plumage. 



Young Lesser Terns harmonise with 

 their natural surroundings in the most 

 wonderful manner, and as they have a 

 habit of clapping flat upon the sand or 

 shingle, and keeping quite still when their 

 parents sound the first alarm note, they 

 are very difficult to find. 



