﻿208 
  

  

  BIKDS. 
  

  

  we 
  have 
  been 
  favoured 
  by 
  0. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Lee, 
  with 
  his 
  notes 
  made 
  

   during 
  the 
  months 
  of 
  May, 
  June, 
  July, 
  in 
  1887, 
  while 
  staying 
  at 
  

   Kincorth 
  House, 
  near 
  Forres 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  bird 
  now 
  

   under 
  treatment 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  * 
  Coming 
  along 
  the 
  Bar 
  I 
  saw 
  two 
  pairs 
  of 
  Eoseate 
  Terns, 
  and, 
  

   after 
  hunting 
  for 
  some 
  time, 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  nest 
  of 
  one 
  with 
  three 
  

   eggs 
  in 
  it. 
  I 
  sat 
  down 
  and 
  watched 
  the 
  birds 
  go 
  to 
  the 
  nest 
  

   after 
  flying 
  about 
  the 
  sands 
  for 
  some 
  time. 
  She 
  (1 
  the 
  female) 
  

   had 
  a 
  lovely 
  pink 
  tinge 
  on 
  her 
  breast 
  and 
  throat.' 
  This 
  was 
  on 
  

   May 
  20th, 
  1887, 
  and 
  along 
  with 
  the 
  Eoseate 
  were 
  many 
  Common, 
  

   but 
  only 
  two 
  Arctic 
  Terns. 
  Nearly 
  a 
  fortnight 
  later, 
  however, 
  he 
  

   wrote 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  1 
  saw 
  hundreds 
  of 
  Arctic 
  Terns 
  breeding 
  farther 
  inland 
  

   on 
  the 
  same 
  island 
  as 
  the 
  Sandwich 
  Tern, 
  but 
  not 
  one 
  Common 
  

   Tern: 
  

  

  Again, 
  on 
  May 
  26th 
  he 
  writes 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  ' 
  Saw 
  three 
  Eoseate 
  Terns 
  on 
  the 
  Bar, 
  watched 
  them 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  

   time 
  ; 
  two 
  of 
  them 
  had 
  a 
  lovely 
  pink 
  tinge 
  on 
  their 
  breasts 
  and 
  

   under 
  wing-coverts, 
  the 
  other 
  had 
  not, 
  but 
  I 
  expect 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  last 
  

   year's 
  bird. 
  They 
  at 
  length 
  went 
  to 
  their 
  nests, 
  and 
  I 
  got 
  two 
  

   eggs 
  in 
  one, 
  and 
  one 
  in 
  the 
  other 
  ; 
  three 
  more 
  nests 
  were 
  empty. 
  

   Saw 
  altogether 
  seven 
  pairs 
  of 
  Eoseate 
  Terns.' 
  

  

  In 
  1866 
  Norman 
  recorded 
  one 
  shot 
  by 
  Captain 
  Euxton 
  and 
  

   another 
  by 
  himself 
  {Zoologist, 
  p. 
  1067). 
  Gray, 
  without 
  quoting 
  

   authority, 
  and 
  writing 
  in 
  1871, 
  seemed 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  species 
  then 
  

   present 
  on 
  the 
  Culbin 
  Sands. 
  But 
  the 
  Culbin 
  Sands 
  themselves 
  

   is 
  scarcely 
  a 
  locality 
  for 
  Eoseate 
  Terns, 
  now 
  or 
  then. 
  There 
  

   seems 
  no 
  good 
  reason 
  in 
  our 
  own 
  mind 
  to 
  doubt 
  the 
  accuracy 
  of 
  

   Mr. 
  Lee's 
  observations 
  made 
  in 
  1887, 
  but 
  we 
  doubt 
  much 
  if 
  

   the 
  locality 
  where 
  he 
  found 
  them 
  affords 
  them 
  nesting-sites 
  

   every 
  season. 
  The 
  well-known 
  ' 
  shiftiness 
  ' 
  of 
  Tern 
  colonies, 
  

   often 
  without 
  any 
  apparent 
  reason, 
  finds 
  no 
  exception 
  in 
  the 
  con- 
  

   duct 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  at 
  present 
  under 
  treatment 
  ; 
  and 
  where 
  they 
  

   are 
  the 
  least 
  subjected 
  to 
  discomfort, 
  anxiety, 
  or 
  even 
  slight 
  dis- 
  

   turbance, 
  Terns 
  generally, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  the 
  Eoseate 
  in 
  particular, 
  

   become 
  very 
  shy 
  of 
  their 
  last 
  nesting-place. 
  We 
  possess 
  three 
  

   of 
  the 
  eggs 
  taken 
  by 
  O. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Lee 
  on 
  May 
  30th, 
  1887, 
  and 
  un- 
  

   doubtedly, 
  and 
  to 
  a 
  marked 
  degree, 
  this 
  clutch 
  carries 
  the 
  peculiar 
  

   type, 
  both 
  in 
  form 
  and 
  coloration, 
  which 
  Eoseate 
  Terns' 
  eggs 
  from 
  

   America 
  present. 
  We 
  showed 
  these 
  three 
  eggs 
  to 
  Mr. 
  William 
  

  

  