﻿174 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  freshly 
  laid, 
  as 
  did 
  also 
  an 
  egg 
  apparently 
  laid 
  by 
  chance 
  on 
  the 
  

   beach. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  — 
  June 
  18th, 
  1903 
  — 
  I 
  handled 
  nestlings 
  

   just 
  hatched 
  out 
  ; 
  and 
  on 
  June 
  28th, 
  1902, 
  I 
  caught 
  nestlings 
  

   beginning 
  to 
  flutter 
  over 
  the 
  beach 
  which 
  had 
  the 
  primary 
  

   quills 
  quite 
  long. 
  At 
  such 
  a 
  late 
  date 
  as 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  June 
  it 
  

   is 
  no 
  criterion 
  of 
  freshness 
  to 
  see 
  only 
  one 
  egg 
  in 
  the 
  nest, 
  as 
  

   it 
  simply 
  means, 
  in 
  most 
  cases, 
  that 
  the 
  other 
  eggs 
  are 
  hatched 
  

   and 
  the 
  chicks 
  away. 
  What 
  often 
  has 
  astonished 
  me 
  is 
  how 
  

   seldom 
  one 
  notices 
  the 
  young 
  nestlings 
  after 
  they 
  have 
  once 
  left 
  

   the 
  nest-hollow, 
  although 
  there 
  must 
  often 
  be 
  numbers 
  crouching 
  

   on 
  the 
  beach. 
  

  

  The 
  main 
  colony 
  is 
  crowded 
  on 
  to 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  beach 
  a 
  hundred 
  

   yards 
  long 
  ; 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  also 
  a 
  few 
  7 
  smaller 
  detached 
  colonies, 
  

   which 
  make 
  the 
  nesting 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  stretch 
  for 
  quite 
  two 
  

   miles 
  along 
  the 
  coast. 
  In 
  the 
  main 
  colony 
  the 
  nests 
  are 
  

   astonishingly 
  close 
  together, 
  and 
  are 
  often 
  intimately 
  associated 
  

   with 
  nests 
  of 
  the 
  Ringed 
  Plover. 
  There 
  are 
  so 
  many 
  nests 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  keep 
  any 
  clear 
  record 
  of 
  them, 
  but 
  in 
  June, 
  1902, 
  

   I 
  jotted 
  down 
  a 
  plan 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  beach 
  (about 
  forty 
  

   yards 
  long 
  by 
  fifteen 
  yards 
  wide), 
  on 
  which 
  I 
  had 
  marked 
  thirteen 
  

   Lesser 
  Terns' 
  nests, 
  and 
  two 
  Ringed 
  Plovers' 
  nests, 
  all 
  with 
  eggs 
  

   or 
  young 
  in 
  them. 
  From 
  notes 
  made 
  during 
  that 
  spring 
  I 
  was 
  

   able 
  to 
  fix 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  incubation 
  at 
  about 
  twenty 
  days, 
  as 
  a 
  

   nest 
  found 
  and 
  marked 
  on 
  May 
  26th 
  with 
  two 
  eggs 
  in 
  it, 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  two 
  nestlings 
  just 
  hatched 
  on 
  June 
  loth. 
  From 
  this 
  and 
  

   foregoing 
  notes 
  one 
  might 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  young 
  nestlings 
  in 
  the 
  

   first 
  week 
  of 
  June. 
  The 
  earliest 
  note, 
  however, 
  of 
  nestlings 
  

   which 
  I 
  have 
  is 
  on 
  June 
  12th, 
  1903, 
  on 
  which 
  date 
  I 
  found 
  four 
  

   nests 
  with 
  young 
  in 
  them. 
  The 
  wet 
  weather 
  had 
  played 
  sad 
  

   havoc 
  with 
  them, 
  as 
  three 
  of 
  the 
  nestlings 
  were 
  dead. 
  The 
  same 
  

   cause 
  might 
  account 
  for 
  slow 
  hatching 
  out 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  nests. 
  

   This 
  contained 
  one 
  nestling 
  and 
  one 
  egg 
  on 
  June 
  12th, 
  and 
  the 
  

   second 
  nestling 
  was 
  not 
  hatched 
  until 
  June 
  14th, 
  both 
  being 
  in 
  

   the 
  nest-hollow 
  on 
  that 
  day, 
  the 
  recently 
  hatched 
  one 
  being 
  only 
  

   three-quarters 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  its 
  elder 
  brother. 
  In 
  1902, 
  towards 
  

   the 
  end 
  of 
  June, 
  and 
  fine 
  warm 
  weather, 
  a 
  nest 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  

   27th 
  of 
  the 
  month 
  with 
  one 
  chick 
  and 
  two 
  eggs, 
  on 
  the 
  early 
  

   following 
  morning 
  contained 
  only 
  one 
  egg, 
  both 
  nestlings 
  that 
  

   were 
  hatched 
  having 
  already 
  left 
  the 
  nest. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  

  

  