COMMON TERN. 
277 
with a delicate rosy tint, which, in a few hours 
after death, becomes paler, and in stuffed speci- 
mens is generally completely faded. The plumage 
of the winter does not seem to be authentically 
known. 
The Common Tern, Sterna Hirundo — Hiron- 
delle de mer Pierre Garin , Temm. — Common Tern 
of British authors . — This Tern is a much more un- 
common bird than either the roseate or arctic. On 
the eastern side of the island it is by no means fre- 
quent, two or three pairs being all the number that 
Mr. Selby has at any time observed breeding on the 
Farn Isles, and further up the Firth we have ob- 
served it sparingly, a few breeding on the Isle of 
May. The ornithologist above quoted states that 
it visits the western coast, and would almost seem, 
comparatively there, to take the place of the other 
two. Mr. Yarrell has given us frequent instances 
of its occurrence on the southern coast, but we do 
not trace it with authenticity northward to the 
islands of Scotland, except that it is mentioned by 
Mr. John Macgillivray on the outer Hebrides. In 
its breeding habits it differs from the last, and re- 
sembles more nearly the lesser tern, seeming to pre- 
fer a shingly beach or low lying ground to rocky 
islands. Mr. Heysham of Carlisle has mentioned 
Kockcliff Salt-marsh on the Solway to Mr. Yarrell 
as a station, and a few pairs breed on the shingle 
above Skinbumess, where there is also a small colony 
