" It breeds quite commonly round the coast on the shores of estuaries and inland lakes." 



THE COMMON TERN 



T 



HE Common Tern, or Sea 

 Swallow, arrives upon our 

 shores about the end of 

 April and during the first 

 half of May, breeds in 

 June, and leaves us again 

 for the Sunny South in 

 August and September, 

 sometimes lingering as late as October. 

 It is not so numerous as its relative, 

 the Arctic Tern, but breeds quite com- 

 monly round the coast on the shores 

 of estuaries and inland lakes. I have 

 frequently seen it on large bodies of 

 water near London, such as the Elstrcc 

 reservoir, and it may occasionally be 

 observed hovering over the Serpentine 

 during the migration season. 



At close quarters, or through good 

 field-glasses, this species may be readily 

 distinguished from the Arctic Tern by 

 the fact that the tip of its bill is black, 

 whereas that of the last named bird is 

 all coral-red. Unfortunately, an ordinary 

 photographic plate does not show this 

 distinguishing peculiarity. 



Like its congeners, the Common Tern 

 breeds in colonies. The nest consists of 

 a few bits of dead grass, or other herbsige, 

 placed in a slight hollow, but sometimes 

 there is nothing at all, the eggs lying on 

 sand amongst stones or upon rock. 

 They number two or three, of a light 

 stone buff, olive or umber brown ground 

 colour, with ash grey and light and 

 dark brown markings. Specimens be- 

 longing to this species may occasionally 

 be met with of a light greenish blue 

 ground colour. The nest figured in our 

 illustration contained a dwarf egg, which 

 looked somewhat odd l>cside its normal 

 sized companion. 



The photographs illustrating this 

 article were all obtained at Raven- 

 glass in Cumberland, where the species 

 breeds in great numbers, especially on 

 the flat ground to the left of the sand 

 dunes shown in the above illustration. 



The Common Tern, although a beau- 

 tiful creature, whether at rest or on the 

 wing, is one of the most ill-natured 

 birds breeding in the British Isles. 



61 



