XIX. 



STERNA ARCTICA. (temm., selby.) 

 Arctic Tern, Sea Swallow. 



The Arctic Tern is by far the most abundant of the genus, 

 and breeds in great numbers upon the Fame and Coquet is- 

 lands, on the latter, especially, in conjunction with the Sand- 

 wich Tern. The two species seem to be exceedingly sociable, 

 and, though they breed together, as it were, and appear 

 mixed, yet, in passing over the island and examining the 

 many hundreds of eggs there deposited, in order to obtain the 

 greatest possible number of varieties, I found that they were 

 generally in small distinct groups ; the number of eggs, I 

 think, could not be short of two thousand, and laid within a 

 small space, being confined to one side of the island, which 

 is altogether only three or four acres in extent. Though fine 

 gravelly sand seems to be their favourite resort, these eggs were 

 all deposited upon the grass, (their being no other surface on 

 the island,) where they had usually scratched a slight hole, and 

 lined it with a small portion of fine dry grass. They lay two 

 or three eggs, as in Plate XIX. The first two figures show 

 the prevailing hue, figure 3, one that is less common, but 

 of all the eggs with which I am acquainted, none is more 

 subject to constant and remarkable variety than this ; no one 

 seeing them compared, could have the least idea that they 

 belonged to the same species ; in the ground colour they differ 

 from a pure spotless white to the deep olive of fig. 2 ; some 

 are marked throughout with small obscure spots, whilst others 

 are encircled, near the larger end only, with dark brown. It 

 is quite impossible to give any idea of these by description. — 

 I would propose during the progress of the work to draw 

 another plate of the eggs of this, as well as of the Sandwich 

 Tern. The time of their breeding commences the first or se- 

 cond week in June. 



