XXV. 



STERNA MINUTA. (linn.) 



Lesser Tern, or Sea Swallow. 



The eggs of the Lesser Tern are by no means so variable 

 as those of the rest of the genus, nor are they so easily met 

 with ; the bird being much less common, and, as far as I 

 have had the means of observing, very local during the 

 period of incubation. The only place on the Northumber- 

 land coast where they have yet been ascertained to breed, 

 being a small space of gravelly sand nearly opposite to Holy 

 Island, where about thirty or forty pairs annually resort, 

 choosing small patches of gravel upon which to lay their eggs, 

 and making only a slight hollow in the sand for their recep- 

 tion ; they are sometimes two, but most commonly three, in 

 number. In a ramble along the coast, during the last sum- 

 mer, with the Messrs. Hancock (to whom I am indebted foi 

 much assistance in the present work), we had the pleasure of 

 finding, at the above-mentioned place, between twenty and 

 thirty nests of this bird, within the circuit of a few yards. — 

 It was the first week in June, the time in which I have for 

 some years obtained their eggs. Figures 1 and 2, of the 

 Plate, show the usual character, differing only in the depth of 

 colour. Fig. 3 is a variety not often met with. 



