ROSEATE TERN. 
STERNA nOUGALLI. 
The numbers of this handsome Tern to be seen frequenting our eoasts during summer have greatly 
diminished during the last twenty or thirty years ; several of their breeding-stations are entirely deserted, 
and others where a busy swarm might have been observed during the whole of the nesting-season are 
now tenanted by but one or two pairs. This species has come under my observation only on two occasions. 
The first I met with was killed at the Pern Islands early in June 18G7 : the second flapped slowly past 
the punt on Breydon mudflats on the 2Gth of May, 1871 ; both barrels of my gun having been discharged 
a moment previously, the bird was out of range before another cartridge could be inserted. 
The Roseate Tern shot at the Pern Islands was obtained by the merest chance; two pairs of Arctic 
Terns had just been secured for specimens, when it was ascertained that the tail-feathers of one of their 
number had been damaged, and another was needed to take its place. The whole of the birds breeding 
in the vicinity had been disturbed by the shots and were hovering in a cloud above the boat, rendering 
it a difiicult matter to select a satisfactory specimen and fire without causing unnecessary destruction. 
At lcn"th a Tern ivith long tail-feathers exceedingly well developed was noticed at a fair distance circling 
round, apart from the noisy throng, and falling dead on the water without a feather displaced by the 
charge; the rosy hue on the plumage of the breast at once attracted attention and revealed the species. 
As the bird proved to be a female and evidently sitting, it was obvious that if no other pairs were 
breeding on the islands her mate at least must be near at hand ; the daylight, however, was drawing to 
a close by the time our specimens had been packed away, precluding all chances of further search till 
the following morning. An early start having been eflected from North Sunderland, the islands were 
reached soon after sunrise, and every stretch of shingle or sandy soil to which the Terns resorted was 
thoroughly explored. Though the occupants of each of the three large breeding-stations as well as the 
smaller colonies underwent a lengthened examination through the glasses, while the greater number of 
the birds were either covering their eggs or perched quietly on the adjacent stones, and consequently 
affording every chance for careful inspection, I failed to detect a single rosy breast. Terns invariably 
rise on wing should their haunts be approached, and fly with angry screams towards the intruders on 
their domain ; it is by no means an easy matter to identify accurately any single individual in this dense 
cloud, as darting rapidly or sailing round on expanded pinions each pursues its own course. In order to obtain 
a clear and uninterrupted view of the whole assemblage at each station after alighting at their nesting- 
quarters, I made use of the tactics often successfully employed with the Crow family or the larger birds 
of prey. In company with three or four of the crew of the fishing-craft that had piloted us from the 
harbour*, we approached one of the colonies, and selecting a spot, at the distance of about sixty yards, 
♦ On a previous visit to North Sunderland, I had remarked that none of the boats in the harbour were suitable for shooting-purposes 
or following a wounded bird with sufiBcient speed to ensure a capture, and consequently on this occasion I had forwarded a light 20-foot boat 
