44 A. C. CHAPMAN : BIRDS OF NORTHUMBERLAND COAST. 



Terns (S. Jluviatilis), all of which breed on the Fame Islands, and 

 some on the gravelly shores of the mainland. During August, on a 

 fine warm sunny day, when the spring-ebb has gradually receded so 

 far that the white breakers appear miles away over the rolling wastes 

 of sand, then it is that the habits of the Terns may be best observed. 

 Close overhead a score may be hovering and screaming, while within 

 a few yards others will be taking headers into the little stagnant pools 

 which, but recently left by the tide, are full of small fish, unable to 

 escape the sword-like beak of the watchful birds. Further on a dozen 

 may be seen sitting, all head to windward, their short legs making 

 them appear as if lying basking on the sand. Then, perhaps, a 

 Richardson's Skua, on piracy intent, makes his appearance on the 

 scene, when what was peace and quiet is instantly changed to tumult 

 and confusion. Though the Roseate Tern {Sterna dougalli) used to 

 breed plentifully on some of the islands lying off the coast, it can 

 scarcely be said to do so now ; nor am I quite certain about the 

 Little Tern {Sterna minuta). I have never come across the latter 

 species myself, but some of the fishermen assured me that it still bred, 

 in limited numbers, at one spot on the coast, and that they had taken 

 its eggs this year. Such information is, however, generally unreliable. 



The only note I have of the Petrels is a Shearwater, which my 

 brother and I saw flying past the herring-boat, about four o'clock in 

 the morning, August 23rd, 1874. We had gone out to see the 

 herrings caught, and to see the Solan Geese {Sula bassana), which 

 having left their breeding station at the Bass Rock, come in numbers 

 close round the boats to pick up the fish which happen to fall out of 

 the meshes of the net. Solans are seldom seen near the shore ; on 

 February 16th, 1882, I observed six, all white birds, flying about 

 seven miles out at sea, early in the morning, but I suspect that the 

 majority of them winter further south. 



Cormorants {Phalacrocorax carbo) are to be seen at all times of the 

 year about Holy Island. They come regularly into the slakes to 

 catch fish in the 'guts.' They roost on the Megstone Rock, one of 

 the basaltic islands of the Fame group, and which is the last visible 

 outcrop we have of the great ' whin sill ' of geologists. Thither I have 

 often seen them wending their way in ' bee-lines ' towards sunset. 



On August 1 8th, 1874, amongst a varied bag of sea fowl, were 

 two of the Ringed Guillemot ( Lomvia troi'/e,var.),m which the white eye- 

 streak was perfectly developed on the dark-brown head ; quite justly, 

 however, this seems to be considered merely an accidental variety, 

 insufficient to entitle the bird to specific rank. 



Such are the birds most generally met with during August. 

 Of their habits I have given merely the results of personal observation. 



Naturalist, 



