ARCTIC TERN. 
91 
exclusively frequents shingle or sandy flats ; on the Dutch 
coast it occurs chiefly during a continuance of north¬ 
westerly winds. Upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea 
and Italy it is rarely seen, but we are informed that it is 
not unfrequent at the Cape of Good Hope—in the latter 
place probably during our winter months. As this bird is so 
entirely a maritime species, we presume that its migrations 
extend along our sea-coasts, from the north to the south¬ 
western extremity of Europe, and are further continued along 
the western coast of Africa, to its south and south-western 
extremity. In April the Arctic Tern makes its appearance 
in our regions, and it departs in August or September. 
The specimen mentioned in page 83, which we killed on 
the sixth of October, 1846, on the Thames, near Chertsey, in 
company of an immature male of the common tern, was a 
young bird, and is a great proof of the correct observations 
made on the subject by Temminck in regard to its plumage 
and other peculiarities. We figure the bird in our plate with 
the adult in summer plumage. It is a very extraordinary 
circumstance that these two individuals should have jour¬ 
neyed in company, and particularly so that the present species 
should have come so far inland. 
The locality in which this species is found is, by choice, 
some extensive muddy flat near the sea ; sometimes sandy 
flats, and even rocky districts are chosen, according to 
circumstances; among other spots, the meadows near the 
sea, that are covered with short grass, or scanty vegetation, 
appear to suit the habits of this bird equally. 
The initiated ornithologist who has seen the Arctic Tern 
and the common tern in a natural state will undoubtedly 
allow that the present species is by far the more graceful in 
its motions of the two, and the colouring of its plumage and 
beak more beautifully contrasted. 
