( ^o^ ) 



NOTES FOR SEASONS 1918-19-20, ON THE IRISH 



COLONIES OF SANDWICH AND ROSEATE TERNS 



DISCOVERED IN 1917. 



BY 



C. J. CARROLL. 



SixcE the discover}' in 1917 of new colonies of vSandwich 

 {Sterna s. sandvicensis) and Roseate Terns (5. d. dougallii) 

 "somewhere in Ireland" {British Birds, Vol. XL, pp. 122-4), 

 I have been able to visit the locality each year, so that 

 additional particnlars may be of interest. 



In 191 7 twenty-three pairs of Roseate Terns were breeding, 

 and of the hundred or more Sandwich Terns' nests then 

 examined, the great majority held no young so late as 

 the beginning of July. When recording this I remarked : 

 " It was an unusual date for this early Tern to have so many 

 eggs unhatched, but no doubt the very severe spring had 

 affected them." Greater experience disproves that conclusion. 



Determined that my arrival in iqi8 should coincide with 

 the normal nesting time, I reached the locality on May 22nd. 

 But, on getting out to the old ground — it is an island retreat — ■ 

 my dismay was great to find neither of the rarer species 

 there, and only a very few Common Terns (5. hirundo) 

 which had just begun to make depressions in the rough 

 herbage preparatory to laj'ing. The inevitable Ringed 

 Plovers {Ch. hiaticuhi) and Oystercatchers {H. ostralegus) 

 had eggs, and a thorough search of the whole place, which is 

 quite limited in extent, revealed the one and only egg of a 

 Sandwich Tern it contained, but there was no sign whatever 

 of the birds themseh'es ! I came away very depressed, 

 deciding, however, to go back along the coast in search of 

 them. And there, on an extensive sandbank some two 

 miles from the island, a vast congregation of Terns were 

 resting from their labour of fishing, and generally preening 

 themselves and idling in the evening sun. By far the larger 

 portion consisted of Common and Arctic Terns {S.paradisca), 

 but the glasses revealed a fine group of Sandwich Terns 

 interspersed with several pairs of Rosea tes. 



Two of the latter species looked particularly handsome, 

 as the wonderful pink flush was vividly apparent in the 

 sunlight. Curiously, the breasts of some individuals in 

 full summer dress are as colourless as those of their less 

 fortunate brethren in glass cases. But at all times a Roseate 

 Tern is easily distinguishable bj- its absolutely unmistakable 



