VOL. XIV.] NOTES ON THE LITTLE TERN. 75 



dangling from the point of the bird's bill. With head held 

 up and bill horizontal he takes that number of short, quick 

 steps which bring him beside his mate. He approaches 

 nearer till he faces her and then, if she is sitting on the sand, 

 bows down his head, the whole body being horizontal and the 

 wings raised a little above the level of his back. Sometimes 

 she snatches it at once and swallows it ; sometimes she pays 

 no heed to him, while he trots around, becoming more and 



l.iTTLE Tern : The male bnnj^inj; lish. The iemale is calhng to him. 

 Note the cleaner margin of the black cap in the male. (Nest No. i.) 



{Photographed by T. Lewis.) 



more agitated, taking little runs away and back or around 

 and frequently offering the fish again. She may try his 

 patience sorely, maintaining her reserve for very many 

 minutes before she accepts the gift ; her apathy is not 

 infrequently complete, and he at last, in despair, flies away 

 to seek another hen, or returns a little later in renewed 

 solicitation. Now and again the male ends the scene by 

 bolting the fish himself and flying out to sea. When the 

 female takes the proffered morsel, she seizes it across its 



