The Black Tern at Home 5 



moment for her to settle herself, the bicycle pump was again used, and at 

 the twelfth plunge of the piston the Tern shot upward as though she were 

 blown from the end of the tube ! We accepted her action as an unfailing 

 indication that the shutter was properly released and once more splashed 

 quickly through the water to see what we might see; but only an empty 

 nest met our gaze, and we were as ignorant of the fate of the young Terns 

 as we had been in the beginning. 



The continued anxiety of the parents, however, encouraged us to 

 continue our efforts to solve the mysterious disappearance of their chicks, 

 and, after several more attempts similar to those just related, we reached 

 the nest just in time to see the two little ones paddling away into the 

 surrounding reeds, like ducklings. This caused us to believe that on 

 each occasion they had returned to the nest only to desert it again as 

 the old bird left them, but it was not until the plates were developed, a 

 month later, that we could really put together the whole story. Its 

 main facts are shown in the pictures which are here reproduced. One 

 pictures the Tern while incubating. A second pictures her brooding 

 her young after one of their enforced baths in the surrounding waters. 

 Comparison of these pictures shows the difference in the poses of the 

 bird during incubation and while brooding. 



A third photograph reveals the two little Terns just as they had 

 climbed into the nest after their long swim for safety. Cold they must 

 have been and they are cuddling close together to keep each other 

 warm, — so close indeed that one may be seen to have his arm about his 

 brother's or sister's neck. 



BLACK TERNS IN FLIGHT 

 July 6, IQOI 



