274 



becoming dull black on the sides and nape ; back dull buffy or dusty white, closely marked or vermicu- 

 lated with blackish, some of the feathers with subterminal blackish margins; scapulars and inner 

 secondaries with a dark centre and subterminal blackish margins ; wings as in the adult, but duller 

 and darker ; the wing-coverts slightly marked like the back ; tail short, some of the feathers slightly 

 marked with blackish brown ; underparts pure white ; bill black; legs dull reddish. 



It would appear that there is yet much to be learnt respecting the precise range of the present 

 species, as the localities whence it has been recorded are in many instauces very far apart. In 

 Europe it has been met with on the west coast from the British Isles to the Mediterranean ; and 

 though it has been received from the Cape of Good Hope, yet there seems to be no reliable 

 instance of its occurrence on the west coast of Africa. Eastward of Africa it has been obtained 

 in Ceylon, the Andamans, and Australia ; and in the Nearctic Region it is found on the east coast 

 of America from New York to Honduras, but I do not find it recorded from the west side of 

 that continent. 



In Great Britain it is, comparatively speaking, rare on the shores of England ; but it breeds 

 regularly in Scotland and Ireland. 



It was first discovered in Scotland by Dr. McDougall, who informed Montagu that the place 

 of resort of this species were two small, fiat, rocky islands in the Firth of Clyde, called Cumbrey 

 Islands, in Milford Bay. On these islands the common Tern swarmed, so that the Doctor and 

 his companion could scarcely step without treading upon the young birds or eggs ; of the latter 

 two were usually together, but sometimes as many as twenty, which bespeaks a congregate 

 incubation. The Doctor noticing that one shot by accident by one of his companions differed 

 from the common Tern, got them to shoot two more. He remarks that on the wing the present 

 species can distinguished by the comparative shortness of its wings, the whiteness of its plumage, 

 and the elegance and comparative slowness of its movements. Mr. Robert Gray says that though 

 many years have elapsed since it totally disappeared from " The Allans," where it was originally 

 met with, it is still found in considerable numbers in many parts of the western counties. The 

 principal breeding-place is situated in Kilbrannan Sound, separating Arran from Kintyre ; and 

 here some two or three years ago he gathered a basketful of eggs in a few minutes. A few 

 pairs, he adds, " have located themselves in Inchmoin, in Loch Lomond, where they breed in 

 company with the Arctic, Common, Lesser, and Sandwich Terns. The island is the property of 

 Sir James Colquhoun, Bart., and is strictly protected, as it certainly ought to be. It still 

 frequents the Culbin sands in Morayshire, and has also been found in East Lothian by Mr. 

 Turnbull, who states that it is not uncommon, and that it breeds on the isle of May." With 

 regard to its occurrence in England, it is said formerly to have bred on the Farn Islands. 

 Hewitson states that it breeds on Foulney Islands, in Lancashire, and Mr. Rodd that it nests 

 regularly in Cornwall. Mr. Cordeaux remarks that it is now quite extinct on the Farn Islands, 

 where a few pairs formerly nested, and that he knows of no recent instance of its occurrence off 

 the coasts of the Humber district. 



In Ireland, according to Thompson, the Roseate Tern is a regular summer visitant, known 

 to breed in a few localities on the east coast. In 1827 he found it breeding on Mew Island, one 

 of the three Copeland Islands; and on different occasions when that island was revisited this 

 species was obtained until 1850, when the island was found deserted by the Roseate as well as 



