408 NATATORES. 



breeds on the bare sand, depositing its eggs, which are two in 

 number, of a pale brownish colour, with dusky and ash- 

 coloured spots, just above the line of the highest floods. The 

 long dull stretches of sand and shingle which it frequents, 

 the hissing sound of the surge upon them, (for there often 

 rolls a surf upon those sandy flats when all is quiet on the 

 cliffy shores,) and the piercing wail of the bird itself, have 

 not much of the elements of satisfaction in them ; and yet 

 the minute tern is a very beautiful bird, and light, lively, 

 and graceful, in all its motions. It is about twice the weight 

 of the swift, half an inch longer, and nearly two inches wider 

 in the stretch of the wings. The bill and feet are orange, 

 the former with the tip black or dusky. The foreheai and a 

 streak under the eye are white, the crown and nape, and 

 cheek from the gape to the eye, black ; the upper part and 

 wings very soft grey, with the shafts of the quills brown ; 

 the whole of the under part white, equally remarkable for 

 the purity of the colour, and the delicate texture of the 

 plumage. They assemble in little parties in the breeding 

 time, skim over the sands, and appear to catch the sand-flies 

 as they rise, and also to twitch out the small water-beetles 

 when they come to the surface. The hatch takes place 

 about Midsummer, and the young are able to fly about the 

 middle of July. They are at first brown on the upper 

 part, with a yellowish tinge on the back and wings, and 

 the white on the head and throat is not so pure as on the 

 mature birds. 



THE BLACK TERN (Sterna nigra). 



This species also breeds in the marshes, and the seasonal 

 changes of its plumage are greater than those of any of the 

 others. It differs from the rest too in the structure of its 

 feet, the webs of which are deeply notched or partially 

 divided between the toes. It is a little longer than the 



