358 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



Black Tern, the Gull-billed Tern, and the Caspian Tern, 

 which have either been observed in single instances only, 

 or whose reported occurrence is open to doubt. Besides 

 the species we have mentioned three others have occurred 

 in British waters. Two or three examples of the Sooty 

 Tern [Sterna fuliginosa^ Gmel.), a single one of the 

 Smaller Sooty Tern [Sterna ancestheta. Scop.) obtained off 

 a lightshi23 at the mouth of the Thames in 1875, and two 

 examples of the Noddy [Anous stolidus (Linn.)) are re- 

 corded, the last secured off the coast of Ireland in 1830, 



A party of Common Terns fishing is a pretty sight as 

 they beat backwards and forwards a few feet above the 

 surface of the water, one of them every now and again 

 checking itself for a second and dropping down to seize 

 a small fish espied below ; their grey and snow-white 

 plumage, with black heads, red beaks, and red legs, con- 

 trasting well with the blue of the sky above and the blue- 

 green water beneath. All the while they are fishing the 

 birds keep up a querulous screaming one to another, and 

 if, as they are fond of doing, they are following the run of 

 the tide, they keep one after the other almost in line, and 

 as one is watching them the long drawn-out party gradu- 

 ally disa^jpears in the distance, the little white flashing- 

 forms getting more and more indistinct after all recog- 

 nition of their cries has ceased, 



Mr, E. A. S. Elliot watched some Common and Arctic 

 Terns feeding on the South Coast in October 1891, and 

 observed that the birds were sometimes completely sub- 

 merged when dropping on their prey and were quite hid 

 from sight, but at other times were not. He thought it 

 depended on how far the fry of which they were in 

 pursuit was below the surface of the water. The Arctic 

 Terns appeared to be the most vigorous in their plunges, 

 and the quickness of their evolutions was wonderful. 



