The Black Tern. :i 



other smaller species, but just the reverse of the larger kinds, are perfectly familiar, 

 or rather heedless, at all times. In the spring, at their breeding resorts, they 

 dash down to an intruder, repeating with angry vehemence their shrill crik, crik, 

 crik ; in the fall, when nearly silent, they are equally regardless of approach, often 

 fluttering within a few feet of one's head and then sailing on again, in the manner 

 of Swallows. The flight is buoyant in the extreme and wayward, desultory, 

 uncertain; perhaps no bird of this country has so great an expanse of wing for 

 its weight, and certainly none fly more lightly. In hovering along on the outlook 

 for insects, they hold the bill pointing straight downward, like others of the 

 family. In the spring I have observed them plunging, like other Terns, into the 

 water for food, probably small fry; but in the fall they seem to feed chiefly on 

 winged insects, which they capture like Night-Hawks, as noted above." 



Mr. C. A. Wright, to whom ornithologists in Europe generally are indebted 

 for many notes on Mediterranean birds, especially those of Malta, has some 

 interesting observations on this species in the " Ibis " of 1874. A large number 

 of Black Terns were observed at the end of July, 1870, frequenting the harbour, 

 and on the 6th August " I found them," he says, " in abundance fishing in the 

 New Harbour extension, which was at that time pretty free from shipping. I saw 

 none in the black plumage of summer ; all were more or less marked with grey 

 and white. I shot six, the average measurement being from 9 \ to 10 inches in 

 length — the larger specimens being males, as is always the case with the different 

 species of the Tern family ; length of wing 8J inches. It was exceedingly 

 interesting to watch their light and airy movements ; now dropping suddenly from 

 their airy altitude, splashing the water like a falling stone in pursuit of some small 

 fish or offal that had attracted their attention, now coursing through the air, in 

 imitation, as it were, of the Swallow tribe. In many parts of the New Harbour 

 were placed floating corks to mark certain spots where mines had been laid to 

 blast the rock at the bottom, in order to deepen the anchorage. On most of these 

 corks was to be seen a solitary Tern, quietly watching for some passing fish to 

 seize it for its prey. They showed no fear of approaching boats. I amused 

 myself for some time with one little fellow, by pulling my skiff to windward and 

 allowing it to drift down towards him. He never moved until I had almost 

 touched him with my hand, and then only to mount a few feet in the air over 

 my head, and alight on the same cork the instant that I had passed. This 

 experiment I repeated several times with the same result. Occasionally, while 

 within a few inches of him, he would exchange calls with a passing companion. 

 The note was rather a shrill scream. So close did he allow of my approach that 

 I could watch the expression of his dark bright eye; but there was nothing of 



