BLAOK TERN. 191 
BLACK TERN. 
HyprocHELipon nigra, Linn. 
Pl. XXXIL, fig. 7. 
Geogr. distr.—Europe generally, northward to Scandinavia; east- 
ward in Asia to Turkestan; during the winter some distance southward 
in Africa; in America from Canada to Chili and Peru. In Great 
Britain it is rare; it formerly used to breed in Cambridge, Lincoln, 
Kent, and Norfolk, but it is doubtful whether it continues so to do. 
Food.—Fish, Crustacea, and insects. 
Nest.—Tolerably well constructed of coarse grass, flags, &c. 
Position of nest.—Upon tufts of grass or rushes in wet marshy 
places, and near inland pools of water. 
Number of eggs.—3. 
Time of nidification.—V. 
Mr. Gray says that “of late years Black Terns have been 
observed in the spring time and autumn in many Scottish 
counties; but these, generally speaking, have been stray 
birds. In Haddington, Berwick, Aberdeen, Fife, and 
Dumfries-shire, many specimens have from time to time 
been shot and preserved. 
“Tn the west of Scotland small flocks occasionally appear 
at Loch Fyne and other sea reaches. Mr. George Hamilton 
informs me that he and his brother observed five specimens 
near Minard in September, 1860; and I have myself seen 
the species on Loch Lomond, flapping round the boat in 
which I was rowing, within a distance of eight or ten 
yards.”—(‘ Birds of the West of Scotland,’ p. 474.) 
Mr. Gray goes on to mention other specimens shot in 
Scotland as late as 1870. 
Though formerly abundant as a breeding species in 
Great Britain, the Black Tern can now only be regarded as 
a spring and autumn visitor to our country. According to 
Mr. Stevenson, the last nest known to him in Norfolk was 
discovered by a marshman at Sutton in 1858, who, with 
characteristic humanity, shot the birds, 
