Song Birds and Water Fowl 



Terns will at times plunge entirely under 

 water, and even swim submerged a short dis- 

 tance in pursuit of prey. In such occupation 

 they sometimes display the very keenest spirit 

 of mirth ; for one of them, bearing aloft a capt- 

 ured fish, will drop it, when it is seized, before 

 reaching the water, by another that sportively ' 

 repeats the act, and so the graceful, airy game 

 goes on. The most beautiful of all the species 

 is the roseate tern, whose other features resemble 

 the ' ' Wilson ' ' or sea swallow, but having also a 

 rosy tint on the under side that glows in fine con- 

 trast with its otherwise pure white and pearly 

 plumage. The roseate tern is somewhat abun- 

 dant at Muskegat, but I looked in vain for any 

 at Penekese. The rosy tint is, however, very 

 ephemeral, either disappearing utterly after the 

 bird dies, and even sometimes before the body 

 is cold, or else changing to a lifeless salmon 

 color. 



I necessarily lost a little of my reverence for 

 the eggs from having eaten them, and because, in 

 point of beauty, they are no match for the birds 

 themselves; and I accordingly carried away a 

 few as a souvenir of a most enjoyable excursion. 

 I doubt very much whether the sad and lonely 

 cry of the sea swallows be a fair index of their 



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