GULL-BILLED TEM. 



STERNA ANGLICA, Montagu. 



Sterna anglica, Montagu, Orn. Diet., Suppl. (1813) ; Naum. 

 x. p. 38; Hewitson, ii. p. 476; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 531 ; 

 Dresser, viii. p. 295. 



Sterne-hansel, French; Lach-Meerschwalbe, German; 

 Charran, Cagara, Golondrina de mar, Spanish. 



This species is an occasional and uncommon visitor 

 to our country, and was first made known by Colonel 

 Montagu from specimens obtained in Sussex and Kent. 

 My personal acquaintance with this Tern is confined to 

 the shores of the Ionian Sea (where I frequently noticed 

 it in February and March) and to certain localities in 

 Andalucia, where it breeds in great abundance. In 

 many of its habits, as well as in certain points of form, 

 this bird, as the editor of the 4th ed. of ' Yarrell ' truly 

 remarks, approaches the Marsh-Terns more closely than 

 do any others of the European Sea-Terns. In my own 

 limited experience I specially noticed that it frequently 

 takes beetles from dry ground, and captures flying 

 insects on wing. Its manner of flight, which is com- 

 paratively wavering, and frequently broken by pauses to 



