54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA 



a bank of shingle, etc., near the foot of Axuherst island. Bay of 

 Quinte; I found one egg in June, 1895, ^ solitary pair of birds 

 being all that were left of the many that formerly bred there; I 

 have not heard of any being met with since that date. Another 

 locality a little below Kingston was the " Spectacles," three small 

 islands in mid-channel. Many pairs also bred at the foot of 

 Wolfe island, but all these localities have been deserted for some 

 years. Further down the river, below Rockport, a few pairs still 

 breed. They frequent some rocky islets near Chimney island. 

 In 1893 there were about 30 pairs of birds, but since that date 

 they have gradually diminished until in 1896 there were not more 

 than 12 pairs, and in a few more years this locality also will be 

 deserted by these birds. Two or three eggs complete a set. I have 

 seen numbers of tern's nests and never saw more than three eggs 

 in the same nest. When the eggs are laid on rocks, a few stalks 

 of grass or bits of bark are collected and formed into a nest. 

 Sometimes there is no attempt at nest building at all, but the eggs 

 are laid on the bare rock or ground, usually between the first and 

 third weeks of June. On the Magdalen islands great numbers of 

 these birds breed on the sand bars; in June, 1897 I found thern 

 abundant on Grosse isle, where on the 22nd June I saw about 60 

 eggs, most of them recently laid. The nests were made in the 

 short grass and on the beaches near the sea. {Rev. C.J. Young) 



Besides breeding in numbers in the St. Clair marshes, this species 

 breeds on islands in Lake Huron, and in 1900 perhaps 100 nests 

 were found on an island off the Bruce peninsula. The fishermen 

 called it the " Lake Erie gull " and said it had come there only 

 during the past few years. The nest is on gravelly or rocky 

 ground and built of slight material. Eggs, from two to four. {W. 

 Saunders.) 



During July and August of 1899 the writer spent five weeks on 

 Sable island, which is situated nearly one hundred miles southeast 

 of Nova Scotia. The breeding season was nearly over, but com- 

 mon, arctic and roseate terns were still incubating, though thous- 

 ands of young birds were flying around, and still younger ones 

 were hidden in depressions in the sand or behind any convenient 

 cover, while the clamour of the parents overhead was deafening. 

 The chief breeding ground was on the south side of the island, 

 and this was a wide sand flat extending for ten miles or more in 



