508 TERN. 



the windpipe. The Teal is the smallest of the duck tribe. It comes 

 to us in winter, and frequents our fresh waters in small flocks. Many 

 are caught in the decoys ; and some few breed with us. 



*Mr. White, in his Natural History of Selborne, mentions young- 

 Teal having been taken on the verge of a pond in Wolmer Forest. It 

 is also said to breed in the mosses about Carlisle ; and we are informed 

 they have been known to breed in confinement. 



The nest is uncommon in France, its breeding grounds being more 

 towards the North. It is made of rushes, lined with down, placed 

 on the side of a pond, so as to rise or fall with the water. The 

 eggs are about the size of those of a pigeon, of a dirty white, spotted 

 with brown. This bird, like most of the duck tribe, is subject to 

 variety, which has occasioned it to be divided into two or three species, 

 to one of which has been given the name of summer teal. 



TERN (Sterna hirundo, Linnaeus.) 



Sterna Hirundo, Gmel. Syst I. p. 606.— Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 807 Wils. Amer. 



Orn. 7. p. 76. — Flem. Br. Anim. p. 143. — L'Hirondelle de mer Pierre Garin, 

 Buff. Ois. 8. p. 331.— Ib. pi. Enl. 987.— Temm. Man. d'Orn. 2. p. 740.— Ger- 

 ard. Tab. elem. 2. p. 322.— Greater Tern, Lath. Syn. 6. p. 361.— Penn. Br. 

 Zool. p. 144. — Germine Meerschivalbe, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 4. p. 682 — 



Hirundo Marina, Will. p. 268 Common, or Greater Tern, Br. Zool. 2. No. 



254. t. 90. — Ib. fol. 144. t. L*. — Lath. Syn. 6. p. 361. 1.4 Lewin's Br. Birds, 



6. t. 204.— Wale, Syn. 1. 1. 119._Don. Br. Birds, 1. t. 23 Pult. Cat. Dorset. 



p. 18.— Kamtschatkan Tern, Arct. Zool. 2. p. 525.— Phil. Trans. 62. p. 421.— 

 Bewick's Br. Birds, 2. p. 207. — Common Tern, Ib. t. p. 199. 



Provincial. — Pirr. Gull-teazer. Kirmew. Picket. Tarney, or Pictarney. 

 Tarrock, or Tarret. Rittock, or Rippock. Spurre. Scraye. 



The weight of this species is about four ounces and a quarter; 

 length fourteen inches ; bill two inches and a half long ; of a crimson 

 colour, black at the end, and very sharp-pointed ; irides dusky ; the top 

 of the head, taking in the eyes and nape, black ; beneath the eyes, and 

 from thence to the nostrils, the neck, and all the under parts, white ; 

 the back and wings are ash-colour ; quills grey ; the outer ones darkest, 

 shafts white ; tail much forked, and white, except the outer web of the 

 exterior feather, which is black ; legs crimson ; claws black. 



Of the four species of Tern which visit this country in spring, this 

 is the most plentiful. It frequents our flat, sandy, or shingly shores, 

 preferring the latter ; amongst which it lays three or four eggs, without 

 any nest. These are about the size of a pigeon's, of an olivaceous 

 brown, blotched and spotted with dusky. 



It is found in great abundance on part of the Sussex and Kentish 

 coasts, particularly about Winchelsea, and from thence to Dungeness ; it 

 is a noisy, restless bird, constantly on wing in search of insects and small 



