4192 The Zoologist— October, 1874. 



year, and the carcases of young ones were lying about on the 

 ground in every direction, whilst here and there an adult bird 

 might be seen. 



We searched carefully for eggs of Sterna canliaca, but I believe 

 in every case the young were hatched, and in most instances had 

 left the neighbourhood with their parents. We found a single 

 young bird, about a fortnight old; and four or five pairs, which 

 kept screaming over our heads amongst the gulls, by their actions 

 evidently had young ones, though we were unable to find any others. 



The common and arctic terns, the former of which is the most 

 numerous species here, were nearly all hatched, but many young 

 birds were not yet on the wing. I was unable to distinguish the 

 young of these birds, as they ran about on the ground, whilst old 

 ones of both species were screaming overhead ; but I found about 

 a dozen specimens, of nearly equal size, picked up at random, to 

 differ exceedingly, especially in the intensity of colouring on the 

 chin and throat, the patch of colour there varying from light 

 yellowish brown in some specimens to jet-black in others. The 

 same remark a])plies to the markings on the back, sides and head, 

 though it is not so patent in those parts as on the throat. In some 

 examples, again, the down from the base of the bill to the crown 

 of the head, and that in front of the eyes was black, whilst in others 

 it was light yellowish brown. I am unable to say whether these 

 differences constitute marks of distinction between the two species, 

 but it seems likely that this is the case ; I should, however, be much 

 obliged for any information on this subject. The young terns are 

 nearly helpless on first leaving the shell, and can then merely 

 crawl, but they soon become lively, active little creatures, and 

 when disturbed hide themselves in the nearest tuft of grass. 



We saw no lesser terns, and the statement of the watcher, who 

 accompanied us, that the old and young had left the neighbour- 

 hood, was corroborated by what we saw the following day at the 

 south end of the island; he also informed us that they had been 

 scarce this year. 



After leaving the north end we continued our walk along the 

 west coast. We observed ringed plovers and oyslercatchers to be 

 numerous, many of the latter by their actions evidently having 

 young under their care. Flocks of curlews were feeding on the 

 ooze, and we saw a few shielclrakes and some immature common 

 and herring gulls. 



