﻿THE 
  BIBDS 
  OF 
  NORTH 
  KENT. 
  175 
  

  

  which 
  I 
  measured 
  as 
  they 
  lay 
  in 
  the 
  nest-hollow 
  (they 
  generally 
  

   lie 
  quite 
  flat 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  with 
  the 
  head 
  stretched 
  out 
  in 
  front) 
  

   were 
  from 
  2^ 
  in. 
  to 
  2i 
  in. 
  long. 
  The 
  colour 
  of 
  the 
  down 
  above 
  

   is 
  a 
  sandy 
  yellow, 
  stippled 
  with 
  black, 
  forming 
  black 
  streaks. 
  

   The 
  under 
  side 
  is 
  pure 
  white. 
  The 
  feet 
  and 
  legs 
  are 
  a 
  pale 
  pink 
  

   flesh-colour, 
  and 
  the 
  beak 
  pinkish 
  horn 
  at 
  the 
  base, 
  and 
  black 
  

   towards 
  the 
  tip. 
  A 
  bigger 
  nestling 
  caught 
  running 
  on 
  the 
  beach 
  

   measured 
  3| 
  in. 
  long, 
  and 
  had 
  the 
  sandy 
  yellow 
  down 
  of 
  a 
  darker 
  

   shade, 
  and 
  the 
  legs 
  and 
  feet 
  of 
  a 
  redder 
  pink. 
  Another, 
  

   measuring 
  4 
  in. 
  long, 
  had 
  the 
  primary 
  quills 
  well 
  developed. 
  

  

  A 
  curious 
  feature 
  about 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  nest-hollows 
  made 
  by 
  

   the 
  Lesser 
  Terns 
  on 
  this 
  beach 
  is 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  most 
  carefully 
  

   lined 
  with 
  pieces 
  of 
  white 
  Cockle-shell. 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  noticed, 
  

   either 
  on 
  Dungeness 
  Beach 
  or 
  any 
  other 
  district 
  where 
  I 
  have 
  

   examined 
  Lesser 
  Terns' 
  nests, 
  the 
  slightest 
  approach 
  to 
  a 
  lining 
  

   of 
  any 
  sort. 
  And 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  exceptional, 
  I 
  think, 
  even 
  on 
  this 
  

   beach. 
  A 
  typical 
  nest 
  of 
  this 
  description 
  has 
  the 
  shells 
  spread 
  

   in 
  a 
  circular 
  patch, 
  somewhat 
  larger 
  than 
  the 
  actual 
  hollow 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid, 
  and 
  heaped 
  up 
  round 
  the 
  edges 
  of 
  the 
  

   nest, 
  so 
  as 
  almost 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  little 
  circular 
  bank. 
  The 
  measure- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  nest 
  found 
  on 
  May 
  26th, 
  1902, 
  proved 
  the 
  hollow 
  

   to 
  be 
  f 
  in. 
  deep 
  and 
  4 
  in. 
  in 
  diameter, 
  while 
  the 
  patch 
  of 
  broken 
  

   shells 
  measured 
  5i 
  in. 
  in 
  diameter; 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  day 
  I 
  

   examined 
  two 
  other 
  nests 
  made 
  after 
  the 
  same 
  pattern. 
  Later 
  

   in 
  the 
  same 
  season 
  I 
  found 
  four 
  nests 
  which 
  were 
  only 
  partly 
  

   lined 
  with 
  broken 
  shells, 
  giving 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  shells 
  had 
  

   been 
  spilled, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  on 
  to 
  one 
  segment 
  of 
  the 
  nest-hollow 
  ; 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  date 
  I 
  found 
  several 
  nests 
  with 
  no 
  shell-lining 
  

   at 
  all. 
  In 
  one 
  day 
  spent 
  on 
  the 
  beach 
  in 
  1901 
  towards 
  the 
  end 
  

   of 
  May, 
  out 
  of 
  four 
  nests 
  examined, 
  three 
  were 
  lined 
  all 
  over 
  with 
  

   the 
  broken 
  Cockle-shells. 
  In 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1903, 
  however, 
  there 
  

   seemed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  marked 
  scarcity 
  of 
  shell-lined 
  nests, 
  as 
  out 
  of 
  

   some 
  twenty 
  to 
  thirty 
  nests 
  examined, 
  only 
  two 
  had 
  a 
  shell-lining 
  

   extending 
  over 
  the 
  edges 
  of 
  the 
  hollow, 
  as 
  described 
  above. 
  The 
  

   lining 
  of 
  shells 
  is 
  so 
  thick, 
  that 
  in 
  1903 
  I 
  could 
  distinctly 
  see 
  the 
  

   remains 
  of 
  a 
  nest 
  I 
  had 
  marked 
  the 
  previous 
  spring. 
  As 
  may 
  

   be 
  imagined, 
  a 
  thick 
  patch 
  of 
  white 
  Cockle-shells 
  is 
  quite 
  the 
  

   reverse 
  of 
  an 
  assistance 
  in 
  concealing 
  the 
  eggs 
  from 
  sight 
  — 
  at 
  

   any 
  rate, 
  from 
  the 
  sight 
  of 
  a 
  human 
  being. 
  

  

  