The Black Tern 



Taken near Los Banos 



During the migrations the 

 birds may show themselves on 

 southern ponds, at Nigger 

 Slough or Elsinore, or even at the 

 beaches ; but little time is spent en 

 route, and the birds are anxious 

 to get to the home grounds where 

 they may at least talk business. 

 If the water-levels are right, they 

 will pitch into May's serious 

 task as early as the ioth in- 

 stant; but if, as is more likely, 

 it is still too chilly or too dry, 

 they will harry the Grebes, or 

 the muskrats, or vent their 

 displeasure on a prowling coy- 

 ote. Nesting is at its height 

 by the second week in June, 

 but high water or destructive 

 winds foil many early efforts 

 and not half the babies of the 

 season are brought off before 

 July. Late July and early Au- 

 gust are spent in leisurely fash- 

 ion, either in loitering about the 

 accustomed swamps or in the exploration of out-of-the-way lakes not 

 suitable for breeding purposes. The return movement sets in by the 

 middle of August, at which time the higher altitudes are cleared; but 

 migrants are passing at the coast till mid-September. 



The food of the Black Tern consists very largely of insects. These 

 are obtained a-wing, and in securing them the bird exhibits great dex- 

 terity, — now towering to a lofty height, with a single stroke against the 

 wind, to make connections with a drifting moth; now following a be- 

 wildering zigzag through the reed-tops in pursuit of the agile dragon-fly. 

 In the fall I have seen them busily engaged over beds of pond-weed. 

 On these occasions they feed with a peculiar dabbing motion, by which 

 they cull some tidbit from the surface of the weed-strewn water, and 

 regain a higher level after each stroke without wetting the wings. Un- 

 doubtedly, also, they glean the larvae of various water-insects from the 

 stalks of ascending vegetation; and they use to a lesser degree the plunge- 

 and-strike methods of the other terns. 



In searching for the nests of the Black Tern, one must penetrate the 



14.62 



Photo by the Author 



A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR 



