ARCTIC TERN 237 
reception ; the dried wrack which sometimes accompanies 
the clutch may as well have found its way into the cavity 
by chance. I have seen, however, a ‘nest neatly paved 
with pebbles,’ and another with some straws of the sea- 
reed. So regular is the distance from high water mark, 
that it is very easy, when once the position of a clutch has 
been marked, to find more, for the ‘nests’ are at no great 
space apart. As above noted, the variety of colour, the bold 
markings, and the frequent utter absence of anything like 
an artificial nest, are very characteristic of this species. 
The eggs in each clutch, however, correspond pretty closely 
in colour. Some are pale green in ground, others buff or 
olive, the deep brown markings being often very large and 
rich in tint, while there are also pale neutral stains. 
On an average laying commences about the beginning of 
June, and the full number is more often two than three. 
The colony has been regularly frequented by about the 
same number of birds since 1896; it is doubtless of some 
age. 
On 5th August 1901 Mr. Graves and I saw at this 
nesting place an immense flock of Terns, mixed with 
‘Black-headed Gulls,’ which whirled in a wild fantastic 
cloud over the sea, and settled in swarms on the shingly 
beach. Making allowance for young birds, then probably 
on the wing, the number seemed vastly in excess of what 
the residents could amount to. 
Sixteen Terns are reported from the Bahama on 26th 
August 1880, Terns (without particulars) from Douglas 
Head in autumn of 1881, large numbers flying north from 
the Chickens on 8th August 1884, and two also from the 
Chickens, 23rd May 1887; the only Manx migration 
entries I have observed. 
This is the most numerous Tern on the Irish coasts ; it 
nests, sometimes in company with the next species, on 
