202 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS.  [cHap. xxv 
the terns as they dash at him if he happens to pass near their 
nests. 
There is one kind of tern that breeds on the sandhills, which 
is peculiarly beautiful, the lesser tern, or Zerna minuta. This 
little bird, scarcely bigger than a swift, and of a pale blue in the 
upper part of her plumage, is of the most satin-like and dazzling 
whiteness in all the lower portions. It is a most delicate-looking 
creature, but has a stronger and more rapid flight than the larger 
kinds, and when he joins in their clamorous attacks on any 
enemy, utters a louder and shriller cry than one could expect to 
hear from so small a body. Its eggs are similar in colour to 
those of the common tern, but much smaller. 
The roseate tern also visits us. I do not know that I have 
ever found the eggs of this kind, but I have distinguished the 
bird by its pale bluish coloured breast, as it hovered over my head 
amongst the other terns, 
A favourite position of the tern is on the stakes of the salmon- 
fishers’ nets. F'requently every stake has a tern on it, where, if 
unmolested, they sit quietly watching the operations of the fisher- 
men. Indeed, they are rather a tame and familiar bird, not 
much afraid of man, and seeming to trust (and, as far as I am 
concerned, o¢ in vain) to their beauty and harmlessness as a 
safeguard against the wandering sportsman. Excepting when 
wanting a specimen for any particular purpose, I make a rule 
never to molest any bird that is of no use when dead, and which, 
like the tern, is both an interesting and beautiful object when 
living. 
These birds make but a short sojourn with us, arriving in 
April in great numbers, and collecting in flocks on the sands of 
the bay for a few days. They then betake themselves to their 
breeding-places, and, having reared their young, leave us before 
the beginning of winter. 
