270 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



through an armateur (or amateur) resident at St. Malo, and it is one of 

 these which has been sold. The peculiarity about this specimen, which 

 is described in the sale catalogue as being " unique in colouring and 

 texture," is that the markings upon it, more numerous en the sides than 

 at the larger end, are of a pale green colour, most unusual in eggs of this 

 species. Although the specimen is slightly cracked, this did not prevent 

 a bid of 100 guineas being made for it. The biddings advanced by five 

 and ten guineas at a time, nntil the sum of 165 guineas was reached, 

 at which price, there being no further advance, it was knocked down to 

 Mr. T. Jay, of Regent Street. 



Notable increase of the Lesser Tern in Co. Mayo. — To any 

 naturalist visiting the estuary of the Moy and Killala Pool, the elsewhere 

 unusual but interesting sight of four species of Terns fishing in company 

 may be witnessed any day, the species being the Sandwich, Common, 

 Arctic, and Lesser Terns. The first-named breeds on the little island-lake 

 of Kathronyem, the second on Lough Conn, and also, in company of the 

 Arctic and Lesser Terns, on the " Inch" and Ross shore by Killala Pool. 

 The breeding haunt of the Lesser Tern, Sterna minuta, the "Inch," is 

 the largest of a small group of gravelly islands situated at the end of the 

 little peninsula of Ross, but as it is the only one uncovered by the spring 

 tides, it is the haunt of the Terns, whose eggs are placed above the level of 

 the high tides. Ross peninsula is about a mile in length and half-a-mile 

 in width at its broadest parts, the western side being a low sandy flat, the 

 shore of a little sheltered bay ; while the eastern side consists of a range of 

 low sand-hills, the boundary of the Pool and channel running to the open 

 sea. The usual stock of Lesser Terns breeding on the Inch generally 

 consisted of ten or twelve pairs, some years less, while that of the Common 

 and Arctic Terns, of perhaps twice that number. On June 14th, when 

 visiting this breeding haunt, I found to my surprise the numbers of the 

 birds greatly increased : at least twenty pairs of Little Terns appeared flying 

 about and resting on the shores, while fully twenty to thirty pairs of the 

 larger species were in sight also. Landing on the Inch, we found several 

 nests of the Common and Lesser Terns, some on the bare stones without 

 any attempt at nest-building, and containing from two to three eggs each ; 

 but the number of nests found being so few compared to the number of 

 birds seen induced me to look further for the real haunt where the bulk 

 of the birds bred ; so seeing several hovering over and pitching on the 

 peninsula, I crossed over, and then found that the three species were 

 breeding along the shores for nearly half-a-mile. Their favourite sites for 

 laying their eggs were on the stony bases of several little mounds that rose 

 out of the sands where the looser parts had been blown away, leaving the 

 stony flats and bases exposed, and here on the bare stones, and in many 

 places on the bare sand, the eggs were laid : most of the eggs I examined 



