﻿206 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  Sterna 
  cantiaca, 
  Gmel. 
  Sandwich 
  Tern. 
  

  

  The 
  Sandwich 
  Tern 
  has 
  bred 
  in 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  instance 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  

   Sutherland, 
  as 
  in 
  1878 
  a 
  single 
  egg, 
  now 
  in 
  our 
  possession, 
  was 
  

   taken 
  there. 
  We 
  have 
  since 
  then 
  seen 
  the 
  birds 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  

   same 
  place, 
  but 
  no 
  other 
  nest 
  has, 
  as 
  yet, 
  been 
  found 
  there. 
  1 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  list 
  sent 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Norman 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Gordon, 
  of 
  birds 
  observed 
  

   about 
  Forres, 
  there 
  is 
  this 
  note 
  under 
  the 
  present 
  species 
  : 
  — 
  

   ' 
  Common 
  in 
  spring. 
  Breeds.' 
  1881. 
  

  

  Under 
  date 
  of 
  May 
  1885, 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  

   Sandwich 
  Tern 
  is 
  not 
  common, 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  small 
  flocks 
  being 
  

   seen 
  passing 
  over 
  in 
  April. 
  

  

  We 
  are, 
  however, 
  again 
  indebted 
  to 
  our 
  friend 
  0. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Lee 
  for 
  

   a 
  full 
  account 
  of 
  his 
  finding 
  a 
  breeding-place 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  not 
  far 
  

   from 
  Forres, 
  and 
  by 
  his 
  permission 
  we 
  here 
  reproduce 
  it 
  in 
  full, 
  

   so 
  as 
  to 
  give 
  full 
  justice 
  to 
  his 
  discovery. 
  

  

  June 
  2nd, 
  1887. 
  — 
  ' 
  At 
  ten 
  o'clock 
  I 
  started 
  to 
  go 
  to 
  the 
  Bar 
  off 
  

   the 
  Culbin 
  Sands, 
  and 
  after 
  I 
  had 
  crossed 
  the 
  sandhills 
  and 
  come 
  in 
  

   sight 
  of 
  the 
  Bar 
  I 
  found 
  that 
  the 
  tide 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  out 
  for 
  some 
  

   time. 
  I 
  got 
  rather 
  tired 
  of 
  waiting, 
  so 
  I 
  determined 
  to 
  wade, 
  

   regardless 
  of 
  wet. 
  After 
  wading 
  about 
  a 
  hundred 
  yards, 
  most 
  of 
  

   the 
  way 
  above 
  my 
  knees, 
  I 
  suddenly 
  saw 
  a 
  Tern 
  get 
  out 
  of 
  some 
  

   bents 
  on 
  a 
  roundish 
  island 
  with 
  steep 
  sloping 
  banks 
  of 
  gravel 
  all 
  

   round 
  it. 
  I 
  thought 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  bird, 
  so, 
  forgetting 
  the 
  

   wet 
  and 
  tide, 
  I 
  whipped 
  out 
  my 
  glasses, 
  and 
  looked 
  through 
  them. 
  

   "That's 
  a 
  Sandwich 
  Tern," 
  I 
  exclaimed 
  immediately, 
  "and 
  there 
  

   must 
  be 
  eggs 
  there." 
  So, 
  regardless 
  of 
  wet, 
  I 
  dashed 
  on 
  through 
  

   the 
  sea, 
  up 
  to 
  my 
  waist 
  often, 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  astonishment 
  of 
  some 
  

   fishermen 
  who 
  were 
  digging 
  bait, 
  and 
  reached 
  the 
  Bar, 
  and 
  there, 
  

   before 
  my 
  eyes, 
  was 
  the 
  long-wished-for 
  prize 
  ; 
  one, 
  two, 
  three, 
  

   dozens 
  of 
  nests 
  of 
  the 
  Sandwich 
  Tern, 
  none 
  of 
  them 
  with 
  more 
  

   than 
  one 
  egg, 
  however. 
  The 
  nests 
  were 
  mere 
  scratches 
  among 
  the 
  

   dried 
  seaweed 
  and 
  sea-campion 
  growing 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  high-water 
  

   mark, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  among 
  the 
  bare 
  stones, 
  others 
  on 
  the 
  sand, 
  but 
  

   none 
  farther 
  than 
  four 
  feet 
  from 
  high-water 
  mark. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  

   eggs 
  were 
  laid 
  with 
  the 
  points 
  pointing 
  to 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  nest, 
  

   and, 
  curiously, 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  were 
  pointing 
  with 
  the 
  thin 
  end 
  

  

  1 
  Since 
  this 
  was 
  written 
  Sandwich 
  Terns 
  have 
  increased 
  their 
  range 
  to 
  the 
  north- 
  

   wards, 
  and 
  been 
  found 
  breeding 
  in 
  a 
  colony 
  in 
  North 
  Ronaldshay 
  of 
  the 
  Orkney 
  

   group, 
  as 
  related 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Briggs 
  in 
  The 
  Annals 
  of 
  Scot, 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  

  

  