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THE ARCTIC TERN. 



Sterna Arctica, Temm. 



PLATE CCL. Male. 



Light as a sylph, the Arctic Tern dances through the air above and 

 around you. The graces, one might imagine, had taught it to perform 

 those beautiful gambols which you see it display the moment you ap- 

 proach the spot which it has chosen for its nest. Over many a league of 

 ocean has it passed, regardless of the dangers and difficulties that might 

 deter a more considerate traveller. Now over some solitary green isle, 

 a creek or an extensive bay, it sweeps, now over the expanse of the 

 boundless sea ; at length it has reached the distant regions of the north, 

 and amidst the floating icebergs stoops to pick up a shrimp. It betakes 

 itself to the borders of a lonely sand-bank, or a low rocky island ; there 

 side by side the males and the females alight, and congratulate each other 

 on the happy termination of their long journey. Little care is required 

 to form a cradle for their progeny ; in a short time the variegated eggs 

 are deposited, the little Terns soon burst the shell, and in a few days 

 hobble towards the edge of the water, as if to save their fond parents 

 trouble ; feathers now sprout on their wings, and gradually invest their 

 whole body ; the young birds at length rise on wing, and follow their 

 friends to sea. But now the brief summer of the north is ended, dark 

 clouds obscure the sun,' a snow-storm advances from the polar lands, and 

 before it skim the buoyant Terns, rejoicing at the prospect of returning 

 to the southern regions. 



The day after our arrival at the Magdaleine Islands, the weather was 

 beautiful, although a stiff breeze blew from the south-west. I landed 

 with my party at an early hour, and we felt as if at a half-way house 

 on our journey from Nova Scotia to Labrador. Some of us ascended the 

 more elevated parts of those interesting islands, while others walked along 

 the shores. A clean sand-beach lay before us, and we proceeded over 

 it, until having reached a kind of peninsula, we were brought to a stand. 

 The Piping Plover ran and flew swiftly before us, emitting its soft and 

 mellow notes, while some dozens of Arctic Terns were plunging into 

 the waters, capturing a tiny fish or shrimp at every dash. Until that 



