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have never had an opportunity of watching the habits of this Tern ; but when in Texas I met 

 with it breeding in considerable numbers on Galveston Island, and took a large series of eggs, 

 most of which were unfortunately lost in transit. In habits it reminded me a good deal of the 

 Sandwich Tern, but was rather more Gull-like, and its call-note especially bore resemblance to 

 that of a Gull. I found it breeding in colonies ; and when I was engaged in examining the nests 

 the parent birds flew anxiously round, uttering loud cries. As a rule, the nests were mere holes 

 scratched in the sand ; but in some instances an attempt had been made to form a bed of straws 

 and drift-stuff for the reception of the eggs, which were generally three in number, though in 

 one or two instances I found as many as four in one nest, whereas in Europe two or three are 

 the usual complement. I did not notice these birds fishing ; they seemed to be feeding chiefly 

 on insects, of which there were quantities in the neighbourhood of the breeding colonies. On 

 the wing they were exceedingly swift and elegant ; and their flight seems more powerful than 

 that of most of the smaller species of Terns. According to Von Heuglin this Tern feeds chiefly 

 on Orthoptera of all sorts and sizes, Lihellulce, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, occasionally also 

 Mutillidge, which it catches with ease on the wing. When there is a prairie-fire it is found 

 there, with many other species of birds, darting into the dense smoke in pursuit of locusts ; and 

 it also catches young birds and small mammals, and is often seen fishing amongst the surf. 

 Mr. O. Salvin, who met with it in Algeria, says (Ibis, 1859, p. 365) that it feeds over the grass- 

 fields and open land, hovering and descending, as it does on our English coast over a shallow, 

 its food being grasshoppers and beetles instead of sand-eels. 



I am indebted to Mr. H. Seebohm for the following notes on the habits and nidification 

 of this Tern, as observed by him in Greece and Asia Minor : — " Sterna anglica is a common 

 bird in the breeding-season on the islands in the lagoons of Greece and Asia Minor. Towards 

 the end of May and early in June, considerable numbers of their eggs are collected for culinary 

 purposes, by the fishermen employed, upon the elaborate system of stakes and reed fences used in 

 the complicated fisheries of these shallow waters. These birds breed in colonies, selecting one or 

 two islands in the lagoon, upon which they lay their eggs in great numbers. Sometimes they 

 make no nest ; but generally they scratch a slight hollow in the earth or sand, and frequently a 

 bit of seaweed or dry grass forms an apology for a lining. Two is the usual number of eggs ; 

 and I have frequently found three, but never four. The eggs of this bird are by no means so 

 handsome as those of Sterna cantiaca ; nor are they, on an average, quite so large. A usual- 

 sized egg measures 2 inches by 1^ inch. A smaller and rounder egg measures If § inch by 

 1-^jy inch, whilst an abnormally large but still single-yolked one reaches the dimensions of 

 2\jy inches by 1\% inch. The ground-colour of the eggs is a yellow ochre or stone-colour, varying 

 on the one hand to a greyish white, and on the other to very dark stone-colour or brown citron ; 

 occasionally the ground-colour of the eggs is pale greenish brown. The colour of the spots is 

 sometimes greenish brown, sometimes reddish brown. The underlying spots are usually very 

 distinct, and are, of course, the same colour as the overlying spots, but paler and greyer. Most 

 ornithologists will by this time be aware that the underlying spots on the eggs of all birds are of 

 the same colour as the overlying spots, but that the former are underneath and show through 

 the ground-colour. By removing the thin coat of ground-colour with a penknife the underlying 

 spots will be undistinguishable from the overlying spots. The spots on the eggs of Sterna 



