54 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



other, and now when the stronger and more hghtly coloured 

 was also the larger it was easy to identify them when they 

 were being fed. Once more the male had to assist a chick 

 in its efforts to swallow food, as had been witnessed by my 

 brother two days before. The male brought a large sand-eel 

 about four inches long and this was seized by the dark chick, 

 which managed to swallow half. The parent then caught 

 the fish's tail and pulled it out a little, and the chick succeeded 

 in getting it down in the way in which it should go. Whenever 

 a chick swallowed an unusually large fish, it had great difficulty 

 in keeping its balance and staggered about gulping, some- 

 times nearly falling backwards. During that day the light 

 chick was very lively and made several little scrapes for 

 itself, kicking out the sand behind it after the manner of the 

 female. 



On the fifth day there was great activity on the part of 

 the chicks, which anxiously awaited the arrival of food. They 

 piped eagerly whenever they heard any Little Terns calling, 

 unlike the female which seemed to be able to recognize the 

 note of her mate. Once the male arrived chattering, just 

 outside the control, carrying a sand-eel, but he made no effort 

 to feed the chicks. Instead, he raised his bill and the fish, 

 and chattered loudly to the female, which presently alighted 

 near him. He then walked for a short distance and dropped 

 the fish on the sand, I think by accident. He picked it up 

 at once, held it for a minute and swallowed it deliberately, 

 much to the disappointment of the chicks. The light chick 

 made good use of its superior strength, and by dint of tiring 

 out the dark one forced it to act as a wind-shield. In this 

 way it also obtained a valuable start in the race to meet the 

 returning parent, and again and again received food out of 

 its turn. By the end of the afternoon the dark chick was 

 ravenously hungry and once made a dash at a sand-eel which 

 the light one was about to swallow. This was the only time 

 that I saw a chick interfere with the other. As a rule when 

 a parent brought a fish there was intense excitement on the 

 part of both chicks, but as soon as one of them received the 

 prize the unfortunate one calmed down. Just before I left 

 the tent the male arrived with a four -inch sand-eel and the 

 dai'k chick got there first, chiefl}' owing to the fact that the 

 other was handicapped b\^ a recent meal. The male left 

 before the eel was swallowed, and at that moment the female 

 returned and began to brood the other chick. In his haste 

 to enjoy the first meal which he had received that afternoon 

 the dark chick dropped the sand-eel, and lor a nioment did 



