ARCTIC TERN. 187 
ARCTIC TERN. 
STERNA mMaoRURA, Naum. 
Pl. XXXII, figs. 4, 5. 
Geogr. distr.—Northern Palearctic and Nearctic regions, wintering 
as far south as the Cape of Good Hope; common in Great Britain, 
especially in the north. 
Food.—Fish, Crustacea, and insects. 
Nest.—A mere depression scratched in sand or grass, and lined with 
dry grass, straws, or feathers. : 
Position of nest.—Chiefly on small islands near the coast and sandy 
reaches on the coast. 
Number of eggs.—2-4; usually 3. 
Time of nidification.—VI. 
The eggs exhibit all the variations found in the Common 
Tern, but are usually rather smaller. Dr. Saxby, speaking 
of the nesting of the Arctic Tern in Shetland, says :— 
‘The eggs are usually deposited on a sandy or gravelly 
beach, or on a ledge of rugged bank which has been broken 
by the winter gales: in such places the eggs are merely 
laid in a hollow scraped out by the bird; but if the soil of 
the bank happens to be wet a small quantity of gravel is 
sometimes interposed. Often, however, the eggs are laid 
amongst the short grass further inland, and then the 
hollow is found to contain a few pieces of dead weeds or 
dry grass by way of lining.”—(‘ Zoologist,’ 1864, p. 9812.) 
Mr. Howard Saunders states that, ‘“‘As regards the 
British Islands, the Arctic Tern is the only species found 
breeding in the Shetlands, and it is by far the most 
abundant in the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and on the entire 
coast of Scotland. In England it breeds in numbers on 
the Farne Islands, and sparingly on the coast near the 
mouth of the Humber, south of which it has not yet been 
proved to nest on the east side of the island, nor along the 
shingly coast of Kent and Sussex, where the Common 
Tern occurs. Mr. Cecil Smith, however, states (Zool. 
1888, p. 454) that he found it breeding on the Chesil 
beach in Dorsetshire. On the west side it breeds on the 
shores of Cumberland, on Walney Island in Lancashire, 
and probably on the Skerries and some other islands 
belonging to Wales; and Mr. Rodd states that it is fay 
more abundant in the Scilly Islands than the Common 
Tern. In Ireland it has many breeding stations, from the 
Copelands, off Belfast, to the myriad islets of Galway and 
Kerry, and there are probably some on the eastern side of 
the island.”—(Yarrell’s Hist. Brit. Birds, 4th ed., vol. iii., 
p. 554.) 
