" The chicks leave the nest soon after they have been hatched and crouch amongst the 



stones and sand." 



THE ARCTIC TERN 



HIS bird enjoys a very wide 

 geographical distribution, 

 being found at different 

 seasons of the year in places 

 as far apart as Spitzbergen 

 and Madagascar, Hudson's 

 Bay and Brazil. It arrives 

 in the British Islands during 

 April and May, and after the breeding 

 season wings its way again in a southerly 

 direction throughout September and 

 October. 



This species breeds farther north than 

 its congener the Common Tern, but does 

 not, like it, make use of the margins of 

 bodies of fresh water. At many breeding 

 stations round our coast, such as the 

 Fame Islands, it nests with the Common 

 Tern, but in the Shetlands it is alone in 

 this respect. 



It is a bold bird, and individuals in a 

 colony will sometimes not hesitate to 

 attack even human intruders. On one 



occasion I was repeatedly struck on the 

 head by an infuriated Arctic Tern, 

 which did not cease to assail me until 

 I withdrew from the neighbourhood of 

 its nest containing newly-hatched young 

 ones. 



The din produced by the harsh, sharp 

 pirring notes of these birds when a 

 large colony is visited is well-nigh 

 deafening. They fly round and round 

 the visitor in bewildering confusion, 

 scolding until the object of their resent- 

 ment has departed, when they settle 

 down again to the duties of incubation, 

 and comparative peace reigns once more. 

 If lesser black-backed gulls should happen 

 to be breeding near by, the Terns are 

 kept in constant trepidation of their 

 marauding visits after eggs or young. 

 I have often seen a gull under such 

 circumstances severely mobbed by a 

 number of infuriated Terns, and the late 

 Dr. Saxby records the witnessing of a 



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