CAYENNE TERN. 507 



ing notes of our little Parrakeet, that I have often for a moment thought 

 I heard the latter, when in fact it was only the Tern. At times their 

 cries resemble the syllables Jcwee-reek, repeated several times in succes- 

 sion, and so loudly as to be heai'd at the distance of half a mile or more, 

 especially when they have been disturbed at their breeding places, on 

 which occasion they manifest all the characteristic violence of their tribe, 

 although they are much more guarded than any other species with which 

 I am acquainted, and generally keep at a considerable distance from their 

 unwelcome visitors. 



On the 11th May 1832, I found the Cayenne Terns breeding on one 

 of the Tortugas. There they had dropped their eggs on the bare sand, 

 a few yards above high-water mark, and none of the birds paid much at- 

 tention to them during the heat of the day. You may judge of my sur- 

 prise when, on meeting with this Tern breeding on the coast of Labrador, 

 on the 18th of June 1833, 1 found it sitting on two eggs deposited in a nest 

 neatly formed of moss and placed on the rocks, and this on a small island, in 

 a bay more than twelve miles from our harbour, which itself was at some 

 distance from the open Gulf. On another equally sequestered islet, 

 some v/ere found amidst a number of nests of our Common Gull ; and, 

 during my stay in that country, I observed that this Tern rarely went 

 to the vicinity of the outer coast, for the purpose of procuring food, pro 

 bably because there was an extreme abundance of small fishes of several 

 kinds in every creek or bay. Until that period I was not aware that any 

 Tern could master the Lestris Pomar'mus, to which, however, I there saw 

 the Cayenne Tern give chase, driving it away from the islands on which 

 it had its eggs. On such occasions, I observed that the Tern's power of 

 flight greatly exceeded that of the Jager; but the appearance of the 

 Great Black-backed Gull never failed to fill it with dismay, for although 

 of quicker flight, none of the Terns dared to encounter that bird, any 

 more than they would venture to attack the Frigate Pelican in the 

 Floridas. 



The Cayenne Tern usually lays two eggs ; in a few instances I found 

 only one, and I concluded that no more had been laid, as it contained a 

 chick, which would not have been there had the Great Gull ever visited 

 the nest. The eggs measure two inches and six-eighths in length, by 

 one inch and six and a half eighths in breadth, and are rather sharp at 

 the smaller end. They have a pale yellowish ground colour, irregularly 

 spotted with dark umber and faint purplish marks, dispersed all over 



