56o 



THE COMMON TERN. 



When L,ake Erie is gnawing sulkily at the tough clay of some headland, 

 and the north wind comes straight out of that murky band which veils distant 

 Canada, midway between the hazy blue of the upper air and the criss-crossed 

 opal of the water, the eye searches eagerly for some living^ thing which shall 

 break the oppression of the blue vastness and afford a sense of companionship 

 with something nearer of kin. Nor does one look in vain, for in the offing 



Photo by Walter C. Metz. 

 THE BREEDING HAUNTS OF THE TERN. 



hovers a fleet of white-winged birds, weaving in the air by their incessant ply- 

 ings a fantastic fisher-net wherein many a luckless minnow is enmeshed. Soon 

 a lone straggler from out the company drifts nearer, parting the air with grace- 

 ful wing; now hovering critically over a suspected fish, like some huge mos- 

 quito with his down-turned beak; now dropping with a splash beneath the 

 wave, or making a nimble catch just below the surface without wetting his 

 plumage. Ever and anon the muffled undertone of the waves is pierced by a 

 weird, frangible cry, as of delicate china or thin ice being broken. The sight of 

 a flock of Terns winning their daily fare on lake or ocean is one to arouse the 

 enthusiasm of the most sluggish observer, and without these dainty birds the 

 sea is orphaned, hopelessly bereft. 



The Common Tern is to be seen in many parts of the state during migra- 

 tions. It can be studied to advantage, however, only in its breeding haunts, 

 and these, so far as known, are no longer to be found within our limits. The 

 Lake Erie birds breed principally, perhaps exclusively, upon a group of islands 

 just over the line in Canadian waters. But let me pause here, — before interest 



