126 T. H. NELSON: A RAMBLE ON THE FARNE ISLANDS. 



enemy, which followed the poor bird in all its movements with the 

 persistence of a weasel on the track of a hare. The pursuer and 

 pursued had gone far out to sea at one time, but they eventually made 

 direct for the island where we were, and we had a fine view of the 

 chase. The Skua was pressing the Tern very hard, and when nearly 

 over the Wide-opens the poor Sea-Swallow, thoroughly exhausted, and 

 unable any longer to keep up the flight, disgorged a newly-caught fish. 

 This was all the Skua wanted, and, leaving the pursuit, he pounced 

 down upon the fish, catching it before it reached the water, and 

 flew off to an adjoining rock, there to sit and keep a look- out for 

 another opportunity of pursuing his piratical profession. I thought 

 it rather unusual to see a Skua so far south in June ; on the 

 Yorkshire coast we do not as a rule observe them until August or 

 September, when the Terns and smaller Gulls are following the 

 herring- shoals. 



Near to, but apart from, the Arctic Terns' colony on the Wide- 

 opens were about a dozen nests of the Sandwich Terns ; the old 

 birds of both species loudly resented our intrusion on their domains, 

 flying screaming excitedly over our heads during the time we remained 

 near their nests. Every now and again one would dart down and fly 

 past with a swish, nearly touching our hats, then, gracefully rising, 

 rejoined the screeching throng overhead. The harsh, grating cry of 

 the Sandwich Tern, when once heard, is never likely to be forgotten, 

 and can be distinguished at a very great distance ; I have frequently 

 heard it at the Tees' mouth in the autumn, although the birds were not 

 within sight, and I knew they must be at least a mile away from where 

 I was standing. Two or three pairs of Eiders had their nests amongst 

 the rough grass on the Wide-opens, as also several Lesser Black- 

 backed Gulls, and we heard the whistling of an Oystercatcher and 

 the shrill piping of a pair of Ringed Dotterels, causing us to make a 

 diligent search for their nests, in which we were rewarded by finding 

 the Oystercatcher's with three eggs, on a bed of shingle near high- 

 water mark. 



We next walked across the rocks to the Knoxes, where there is a 

 large colony of Sandwich Terns, consisting of some fifty or sixty 

 pairs, one of the most interesting sights of the Fames. The nests 

 were arranged within a very small circumference, and contained eggs 

 of great diversity of colour, varying from white, with small brown 

 spots, to light brown, blotched with darker brown and black. Like 

 the Terns on the adjacent island, the owniers of the nests hovered 

 screaming in the air above our heads, seemingly in a state of great 

 excitement. We were requested not to remain near the nests longer 

 than was necessary, as the Sandwich Terns desert their eggs on a very 



Naturalist, 



