Eidgway on the Eggs of the Caspian Tern. 
221 
LXVIII. Fhaleris cristatella, Bon. Crested Auk. 
Sweden. 1 . One, on the Wettern Lake, near Jonkoping. Meves, 
fide Nya Jagare Forbundets Tidskrift, 1867, p. 108. Dec., 1860. 
Addendum. — To the record of Tringoides macularius ( antea , p. 149) 
add : — 
Germany. 1 . One, an adult male, in the environs of Spires, Khenish 
Bavaria. Marmottan and Vian, Bull, de la Soc. Zool. de France, 1879, 
p. 248. In coll, of M. Marmottan. 22 April, 1875. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE EGGS OF THE CASPIAN TERN 
(STERNA CASPIA). 
BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. 
In the number of this Bulletin for October, 1879, Mr. Henshaw 
records the fact that the Caspian Tern breeds on the islands off the 
coast of Virginia, and describes a pair of downy young obtained by 
him on Cobb’s Island. As one of the results of a trip to the same 
locality the present season, it was my good fortune to obtain two 
eggs from a nest situated not a hundred yards from that in which the 
young birds described by Mr. Henshaw were found, but of course 
belonging to another pair of birds, since the parents of said young 
are among the treasures of Mr. Henshaw’s fine collection. A rela- 
tion of the circumstances attending the discovery of this second nest 
may, while perhaps adding little to our knowledge of the habits of 
the species under consideration, at least prove of interest to the 
reader. 
On Sunday, 'July 4, the excellent boatman whose services we 
had fortunately been able to engage, made a trip to that portion of 
the island where the nest had been found the preceding season, and 
discovered that an immense colony of the Royal Tern had established 
themselves for the purpose of rearing their young, though they had 
at that time deposited only three eggs. He returned with six fine 
specimens of the birds, having killed many more. Allowing the 
birds sufficient time to deposit their eggs, we visited the locality two 
days afterward, and found an area of perhaps one eighth of an acre 
completely covered by their eggs, it being impossible to walk through 
the nesting site without crushing a greater or less number, many 
