52 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



sand-eel which he gave to his mate. This she swallowed 

 greedily without rising from the chicks. As soon as she had 

 been fed, she flew some two yards away and began to scrape 

 a hollow in the sand, giving the slow, low-pitched " Yupp 

 yupp " note. She went through the same perform- 

 ance on several later occasions. The chicks did their best 

 to reach her, but when the parent bird found that they were 

 unable to escape she walked back and for the first time 



Little Tern : Five days' oUl chick with sand-eel. 

 {Photographed by J. N. Douglas Smith.) 



examined the obstruction, pushing her bill here and there 

 through the wire. Then she brooded the chicks again, only 

 leaving them in order to receive food from the male or to fly 

 round for a few minutes at a time. At first she seemed to 

 have some difficulty in realizing the presence of the wire and 

 twice she struck against it. Once when she was coming down 

 she suddenly saw the netting a few inches in front of her and 

 swerved upwards, alighting neatly in the middle of the control 

 — a very pretty piece of flying. 



