306 LARID^. 



On the 5tli of November^ 1849, a tern of this species was shot 

 by Dr. C. Farran at a pool of brackish water near the sea, and 

 adjacent to his residence at Clonea, county A¥aterford. That 

 gcutlemaiij first attracted by the extreme elegance of its flight, 

 remarked that the bird was different from any tern he had ever 

 seen, and went for liis gun to shoot it. Unfortunately for itself, 

 it waited his return, and exhibited no alarm at his near approach. 

 He observed that, instead of plunging into the water after its prey 

 like other terns, it appeared to alight with its feet on the surface 

 of the water, and pick up food there in the manner of the 

 kittiwake-gull. Its stomach was found to contain the remains 

 of water-beetles and larvse. The specimen, when mounted, was 

 kindly forwarded to Belfast for my examination. It was a very 

 fine and perfect example of the young bird of the year, and exhi- 

 bited a grey marking of an oval form, extending for an inch in 

 length on each side of the breast, unnoticed in the description of 

 Yarrell, but included in that of Temminck. A bird in similar 

 plumage was obtained still later in the year — about a week before 

 Christmas 184'9 — at a marsh within half a mile of Cork. It came 

 into the possession of Dr. Harvey, of that city. The species had 

 previously been noticed once or twice in Cork harbour."^ The 

 black tern is said to have been observed in the bays of Dundalk 

 and Drogheda.t 



This species, though very much scarcer in England than for- 

 merly, is more frequently met with there than in Ireland ; — in 

 Scotland, strange to say, it has never been seen, at least until the 

 year 1846 ; the date of publication of Macgillivray's ' Manual.' 



On the 2nd of June, 1826, I observed numbers of black terns 

 about the fens of Holland, between Utrecht and Breda, and much 

 admired their gracefully buoyant flight, and, when in pursuit of 

 insect prey, their most rapid evolutions. 



* Mr. Wm. Crawrord. + Commiuiifatcd to Mr. I^.. J. Montgomery. 



