SANDWICH TERN. 319 



berland, Wallney Island, and the Scilly Isles, and in 

 one or two places in Scotland and Ireland. 



It is a true sea-bird, never coming inland ; it migrates 

 to us at the end of April and leaves again in September. 

 Its food consists of fish, which it catches by darting 

 down upon them, after hovering above them ; it never 

 dives for them. 



In its summer plumage the Sandwich Tern has the 

 top of the head black, the back and wings are pale 

 bluish grey, all the rest of the parts are white. 

 'i They are sociable birds and breed in large numbers 

 close together. The nest is on the ground, being a 

 slight hollow, either natural or one made by the bird, 

 and sometimes lined slightly with a few bits of grass but 

 often with nothing at all. In a visit which Seebohm 

 paid to the Fame Islands he mentions that so thick 

 were the nests that there must have been on the 

 average one nest per square yard, and it was im- 

 possible to walk about without treading on the eggs. 

 Referring to the richness of these islands in treasures 

 for the oologist he mentions that in a quarter of an 

 hour he found the nest of an Eider Duck with eggs, 

 several nests of the Lesser Black-backed Gull with eggs, 

 a Ringed Plover's nest with four eggs, two Oyster 

 Catcher's nests both containing eggs, a dozen eggs 

 of the Arctic Tern, and more than two hundred eggs 

 of the Sandwich Tern. 



The eggs of this bird are subject to great variations 

 and are among the most handsome of all our sea-birds' 

 eggs. The first week in June is the best week to 

 visit their haunts to obtain fresh eggs. These are two 

 or sometimes three in number, of a buffish or creamy 

 ground colour, spotted and blotched with rich dark 

 brown, and chestnut underlying markings of slate grey. 



