﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  207 
  

  

  to 
  the 
  north-east, 
  as 
  if 
  all 
  the 
  birds 
  had 
  been 
  sitting 
  with 
  their 
  

   heads 
  to 
  the 
  wind 
  when 
  they 
  laid 
  them. 
  I 
  counted 
  thirty-two 
  

   nests, 
  and 
  twenty 
  of 
  them 
  had 
  an 
  egg 
  in 
  each.' 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  occurs 
  in 
  most 
  lists 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  district 
  of 
  the 
  

   south 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  of 
  Speymouth. 
  To 
  

   Mr. 
  Mackessack's 
  knowledge, 
  however, 
  it 
  has 
  only 
  once 
  bred 
  upon 
  

   his 
  ground 
  to 
  the 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Findhorn, 
  and 
  he 
  himself 
  

   found 
  the 
  eggs, 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  one 
  in 
  his 
  collection. 
  The 
  large 
  

   colony 
  discovered 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Lee 
  was 
  phenomenal, 
  and 
  has 
  not 
  since 
  

   then 
  occupied 
  the 
  same 
  ground, 
  to 
  our 
  knowledge. 
  That 
  year 
  was 
  

   phenomenal 
  as 
  regards 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  Terns 
  of 
  all 
  kinds 
  found 
  

   along 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth. 
  

  

  During 
  most 
  seasons, 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  assured 
  by 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres, 
  

   the 
  Sandwich 
  Tern 
  is 
  not 
  common, 
  and 
  some 
  years 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  

   doubtful 
  if 
  they 
  breed 
  at 
  all, 
  but 
  only 
  pass 
  on 
  migration 
  in 
  April. 
  

   The 
  year 
  after 
  Mr. 
  Lee's 
  find, 
  Harvie-Brown 
  found 
  only 
  one 
  pair 
  

   at 
  the 
  raised 
  beaches 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Findhorn. 
  It 
  would 
  

   indeed 
  seem 
  that 
  Sandwich 
  Terns 
  only 
  occupy 
  their 
  favourite 
  

   nesting 
  sites 
  at 
  irregular 
  intervals 
  of 
  years. 
  

  

  Major 
  Chad 
  wick, 
  writing 
  in 
  1888, 
  speaks 
  of 
  twenty 
  to 
  twenty- 
  

   five 
  nests 
  occurring 
  every 
  year 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  locality, 
  but 
  seems 
  to 
  

   consider 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  more 
  plentiful 
  in 
  1887. 
  Brown 
  — 
  who 
  

   visited 
  the 
  locality 
  three 
  times 
  in 
  1888 
  — 
  expresses 
  the 
  opinion, 
  

   that 
  'if 
  the 
  Sandwich 
  Terns 
  were 
  less 
  molested, 
  they 
  would 
  stay 
  

   and 
  breed 
  regularly, 
  because 
  they 
  arrive 
  regularly, 
  but 
  shortly 
  

   afterwards 
  disappear.' 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  pairs 
  breed 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  occasionally 
  in 
  some 
  places, 
  

   irregularly 
  in 
  others, 
  both 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  Findhorn, 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  

   up 
  the 
  Forth 
  as 
  Nairn 
  Sands 
  and 
  Fort 
  George. 
  Near 
  the 
  latter 
  

   place 
  Mr. 
  Millais 
  found 
  a 
  nest 
  in 
  1891, 
  and 
  we 
  heard 
  a 
  bird 
  pass 
  

   over 
  us 
  when 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  Bar 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  year. 
  

  

  Sandwich 
  Terns 
  arrived 
  at 
  Culbin 
  Sands 
  on 
  15th 
  April 
  1895, 
  

   and 
  other 
  Terns 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  later 
  (Brown, 
  in 
  lit. 
  14/v/95). 
  

  

  rna 
  dougalli, 
  M<>nf. 
  Roseate 
  Tern. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  says 
  he 
  has 
  sometimes 
  1 
  clearly 
  seen 
  ' 
  the 
  Koseate 
  Tern 
  

   among 
  flocks 
  of 
  the 
  commoner 
  species. 
  

  

  Since 
  the 
  statement 
  made 
  by 
  Gray 
  in 
  his 
  liink 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  of 
  

   Scotland, 
  that 
  the 
  Koseate 
  Tern 
  still 
  frequents 
  the 
  Culbin 
  Sands, 
  

  

  