THE COMMON TEEN. 
281 
the Scottish coast,, a locality on either side — the Isle of May on 
the east, and Cumbrae on the west.* 
Audubon thus writes : — “ Beautiful indeed are terns of every 
kind, but the roseate excels the rest, if not in form, yet in the 
lovely hue of its breast. I had never [until the 28th of April, 
1832, at the islet named Indian Key] seen a bird of this species 
before, and as the unscathed hundreds arose and danced as it were 
in the air, I' thought them the humming-birds of the sea, so 
light and graceful were their movements” (vol. iii. p. 296). 
THE COMMON TEEN. 
Sea Swallow ; Pirre (North of Ireland) .f 
Sterna hirundo , Linn. 
Is a regular summer visitant to the coast and inland 
waters. 
Mr. Selby remarks, that this tern “ is of rare occurrence upon 
the whole extent of the eastern shores of the north of England 
and Scotland, where its place seems to be supplied by the arctic 
and roseate { species” (p. 468). Sir William Jardine observes, 
that it “ is a much more uncommon bird than either the roseate 
or arctic tern” ( f Brit. Birds/ vol. iv. p. 277). He coincides with 
Mr. Selby in the statement of its rarity on the eastern side of Great 
Britain, referring at the same time to the two or three pair nidifying 
(as noticed by this author) at the Earn Islands, and adding that 
a few build on the Isle of May, Erith of Eorth. ec It breeds near 
the western extremity of Kockcliff salt-marsh, at no great dis- 
tance from the junction of the rivers Eden and Esk, in the Sol- 
way Eirth, and a few pairs on Solway Moss.”§ At Eoulney Island, 
coast of Lancashire, its eggs have been found, (as well as those 
* It is supposed to breed on islets in the Solway Frith. (Mr. Hey sham, Carlisle.) 
f Sldrr at Lambay ; Kingfisher at Longh Neagh. 
| The only localities yet recorded for the roseate along the whole eastern line of 
England and Scotland are two —the Farn Islands and the Isle of May. 
§ Mr. Heysham, in Yarrell’s ‘ Brit. Birds,’ vol. iii. p. 897. 
