THE LITTLE TEUN. 303 



Covk liarbour."^ At the Keroe islands, on the south coast of 

 Wexfordj they and their eggs have been obtained, the latter 

 placed in a mere hollo^^ of the sand or gravel : in a few in- 

 stances the number in a nest was only two.f So early as the 

 26th of April, 1850, above thirty of these terns were seen on 

 the Grey Stones, coast of Wicklow.J I^i the preceding year, 

 on the 6th of May, eight were observed together at the South 

 Wall, Dublin Bay ;§ and on the 8tli of that month, the first birds 

 of the season were noticed in Drogheda Bay.|| 



In 1836, one of these birds was shot at the island of Lambay, 

 on the 9th of June, and three at Portmarnoek on the 19th of 

 July ; — when proceeding from Malahide to the former locality, 

 on the 5th of June, 1838, 1 saw four of the S. minnta in company 

 flying over the sea. About the year 1840, from sixty to a hun- 

 dred little terns have been seen during a forenoon on the coast 

 between Malahide and Portrane, where they had nests on the 

 sand and shingle, several of which, containing eggs, have been 

 discovered without much search being made. They have greatly 

 decreased there since that period.^ 



The little tern was not observed on any of the rocky marine 

 islets frequented by the larger species, that I have visited ; nor am 

 I aware of any fresh -water breeding-haunt in Ireland. Its ap- 

 pearance at least, inland, is thus noticed by the Eev. Mr. Lub- 

 bock, in his ' Fauna of Norfolk :' — '' The lesser terns are very 

 engaging little birds : in the summer-time they will fly backward 

 and forward over a boat moored for angling. I have often been 

 attended by them at Hickling" and Horsey. They approach 

 within a very few yards, and are highly delighted with a very small 

 fish — on one or two occasions, when I had minnows with me, they 

 came close to the boat to take them. All these birds [the various 

 species of tern] are now with us hardly to be called more than 

 visitants ; their nesting-places have been broken up the incursions 

 of man'' (p. 122). 



This bird may be considered equally common in Ireland as in 



* Mr. Wm. Crawford. f Mr. Poole. J Mr. J. Wallers. 



§ Mr. R. Ball. || Mr. R. .1. Montgomery. 1[ Mr. T. W. Warren. 



