BRITISH BIRDS 



far north as Norway, also in many parts of temperate Asia, in Northern Africa, and 

 North America, and in winter migrates southwards to warmer climates. The nest 

 consists of a hollow in the sand or shingle, and is often situated on some low-lying 

 island off the shore ; it usually contains three eggs, in colour greyish-buff or pale 

 olive, with blotches of brown and purplish-grey. 



The Sea-swallow, as this species is sometimes called, is usually seen in parties 

 flitting to and fro over the sea or shallows on sandy shores with an unsteady 

 wavering flight, sometimes hovering and then plunging into the water after the 

 small fish on which it lives. When at rest the birds are fond of basking in the sun 

 on some sloping bed of shingle near the water, and lie with their breasts touching 

 the warm stones. 



In autumn, on the shores of the Moray Firth, I have often watched large flocks 

 of Terns before they started on their journey south ; in these companies were many 

 young birds, some of which were still fed by their parents as they perched on the 

 tops of posts supporting salmon nets, or waited on the beach. On such occasions 

 it is hardly possible to distinguish the Common from the Arctic Tern, so much are 

 they alike, but the larger and whiter-breasted Sandwich Terns are always easily 

 made out. 



THE ARCTIC TERN. 



Sterna macrura, Naumann. 

 Plate 71. {Frontispiece.) 



Although colonies of the Arctic and Common Terns are found nesting in the 

 same territory on some parts of our coasts, as on the Fames, Northumberland, 

 Walney Island, Lancashire, and Isles of Scilly, for instance, yet the breeding range 

 of the first-mentioned species is in general much farther north, extending to the 

 unexplored lands of the Arctic Ocean in both hemispheres, whence the birds migrate 

 in winter to the southern parts of Africa, Asia, and America. 



The nest, like that of the Common Tern, is a mere hollow in the sand or 

 shingle, and the eggs of the two species do not differ in colour, though those of the 

 Arctic Tern are, according to Howard Saunders' Manual, slightly smaller. 



The habits of the two birds are much alike, and, in fact, they are difficult to 

 distinguish except when closely examined. Macgillivray gives as easily observed 

 characteristics of the Arctic Tern, " the bluish colour of the lower parts, the much 

 shorter tarsus, the greater extent of tail beyond the wings, and the uniform deep red 



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