364 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the birds with some fish-bones, not half-picked by myself, but, 

 although many came quite close in order to satisfy their curi- 

 osity, they utterly ignored them and hastily resumed their 

 worm-catching. 



On the 13th they (the Gulls) and the many Common Terns 

 then frequenting Breydon had a rare afternoon's profitable sport 

 in picking up small Herrings (syle) stranded in numbers on the 

 flats left by the receding tide before they could " draw down " into 

 the channel, and into comparative safety. 



A most unusual number of Common Terns used Breydon all 

 through August, many of them birds of the year, and with them 

 now and again small lots of Arctic Terns were seen. On easterly 

 winds, when the water is " sheer " (i.e. very clear), the fish swim 

 lower, and are more alert. On such occasions the Terns fished 

 with greater impetuosity, often throwing themselves into the 

 water from a height of fifteen feet, submerging themselves all 

 but their primaries and half of the tail. Their frequent hover- 

 ing, after the manner of Kestrels, and their Gannet-like plunges, 

 were exceedingly interesting to watch. Terns are wonderfully 

 pugnacious. Sometimes they quarrelled among themselves, and 

 every stray Book that crossed Breydon was set upon most 

 energetically by some spirited bird, who chased and harried the 

 corvine until both would be almost lost to sight overhead, each 

 one endeavouring to get above the other. 



On the 21st (August) two or three Terns flew past the watcher's 

 boat, wherein I stood watching them, accompanied by several 

 Black-headed Gulls ; these imitated the smaller birds both in 

 hovering and endeavouring to go below the surface, and clumsily 

 as they performed this attempt, I noticed on several occasions 

 they secured a small Herring. The fish, owing to the water 

 being muddled and thick, swam nearer the surface. Mimicry 

 of action is not a strong point with different species, but in 

 this instance it was not only entertaining but profitable to the 

 Gulls. Never did I see one, among the many Terns present, 

 alight on the water ; they do not appear to like wet feet. They 

 will rest and preen themselves upon the drier muds, but prefer 

 to settle on some inverted basket or other stranded object, and 

 will crowd together on a bit of stump or timber. Scores remained 

 with us until the shooting began on Sept. 1st, when many a one 



