"G 



HIUTISII BIKDS. 



[vol. XIV- 



middle and with a quick jerk forces it head downwards into 

 her throat. It disappears in" an instant. When she takes 

 the fish, the male strikes his curious pose, standing erect 

 with neck and bill craned aloft, hje screams triumphantly. 

 It is the time of mating and the scenes now enacted are those 

 which precede and are associated with the act of pairing. 

 From time to time as the birds are watched there comes a 

 Tern carrying fish like many another. His bride hails him 



Little Tern : The male offering lish to the sitting female. .She hasj 

 ■risen sufficiently to expose the part of one egg. Note the cleaner 

 •' " margin of the black cap in the male. (Nest No. 2.) 



{Photographed by T. Lewis.) 



with a loud cry and crouches on the sand, her under-feathers 

 erect, her wings drooped and quivering. He drops beside 

 her and struts around, dangling the fish, and after a Httle 

 time sidles up to her. The fish may now be offered at once 

 and accepted, and almost at once pairing takes place ; less 

 frequently the fish is not yet offered, but is retained in 

 the bill of the male while the act of pairing occurs ; in 

 that case it is transferred from bill to bill immediately 



