IV. 



STERNA CANTIACA (gmel.) 

 Sandwich Tern, or Sea Swallow, 



Nothing can exceed the beauty and variety of the eggs of 

 the Sandwich Tern: in a visit to the Coquet and Fame islands, 

 on the Northumberland coast, I had the pleasure of picking 

 those selected for the accompanying plate, from many hun- 

 dreds which lay thickly strewed on all sides of us, mixed with 

 those of the common Tern (Sterna Hirundo): indeed, so close 

 were they together, that, in many instances, we were obliged 

 carefully to pick our steps, in order to avoid treading upon 

 them; they were either upon the grass as it grew, or upon a 

 small quantity gathered together for that purpose. They are 

 mostly two, sometimes three in number. 



A more interesting sight than the above can scarcely be 

 imagined: the rocks around us, for the greatest part of the 

 year, bleak, silent, and uninhabited, were now everywhere 

 ornamented with the eggs, and enlivened by the constant (I 

 had almost said, musical,) cry of these neat and elegant birds, 

 which were soaring over our heads in thousands. 



The three figures are varieties only, and certainly very re- 

 markable ones, of the same species; the first shewing the 

 usual contour. 



The Sea Swallow breeds late, as do most of the sea birds; 

 the female does not, generally, begin to sit till June. I have 

 always found the first week in that month the best time to 

 obtain fresh specimens of the eggs of the sea fowl. 



