THE LITTLE TEEN. 301 



coasts, particularly about Winchelsea, and in the Romney marshes 

 towards Dungeness. Mr. Selby found them breeding in the 

 Solway and in the Firth of Clyde. McGillivray met with them in 

 great numbers in South Uist and Long Island ; and his corre- 

 spondents, Messrs. Bailie and Heddle, noted their annual arrival in 

 the Orkneys in May. " They arrive in straggling flocks in the 

 beginning of May," says McGillivray, "and soon betake them- 

 selves to their breeding-places, which are sandy tracts, gravelly 

 or pebbly ridges, rocky ground, sometimes low, shelving rocks 

 on the sea-shore ; their nests being bits of grass or fragments of 

 sea-weed, placed in a mere depression. In stormy weather they 

 fly little, but shelter themselves by resting on the shore. They go 

 to roost very late in the evening ; long after sunset, they are still 

 engaged in seeking their sustenance." 



Terns always assemble in flocks on the sea-coast, on the mar- 

 gins of lakes, in marshes, or wooded spots near the mouths of rivers, 

 at their breeding-time. Their nests are placed so near to one 

 another, that the hens sitting actually come in contact. They lay 

 their eggs, to the number of two or three, which hatch in twenty 

 days. These eggs are esteemed as a very delicate viand : in 

 the United States a considerable trade is carried on in them. 



The Sea Swallow is found in all the regions both of the Old and 

 New World, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific. 



The Tern (Sterna hirundo) is very common in France, on the 

 shores of the Atlantic, and in the Mediterranean. 



, The Little Tern {Sterna minuta, Linn.). 



English Synontms. — ^Lesser Tern : Montagu, Selby. Lesser Sea Swallow, 

 Little Tern : McGillivray, Flemming. 



Latin Synonym. — Sterna minuta: Latham, Flamming, Selby, McGilli- 

 vray, Morris, Jenyns, Temminok. 



Eeench Synonyms. — La Sterne Petite ; Eiguier. La Petite Hirondelle de 

 Mer : Temminck. 



This smallest of the Terns has many habits in common with the 

 Sterna hirundo. " In the elegance of its buoyant flight," says 

 McGillivray, " as it skims over the water or shoots along its way 

 to and from its breeding-place, the tiny creature is an object of 



