1038 
STERNA FULIGINOSA. 
Habits, This Tern is exclusively an oceanic species, never straying inland, except during the prevalence 
0 s rong winds. It may be seen at great distances from the land, though it is not so much at home as the 
Noddies ,n mid-ocean, and when seen there has the appearance not so much of wandering about as of mating 
SOme dl ' Sta '! t lai i t1, and . merely fl y in ^ round the shi Ib on the look-out for food thrown overboard. 
" e V," aV r et Wlt 1 11 flS " ng 11 has § eneraI1 y been within twenty miles of the land. Being a bird of very 
powerful flight it no doubt travels long distances in search of food, particularly when it has young to feed ; for 
1 7 , ° Se ’ hl MS Paper “° n the Birds of Ascension,” that one was caught with a fish 
in i s bill which was unknown in those waters. I have observed it sweeping down rapidly to the surface of 
the water and dipping up its prey as it were, but I have not noticed it pouncing. It adroitly twists and turns 
and contrives often to avoid the attacks of its enemy, the Frigate-Bird, which I have seen dashing headlong 
a i in ore er to ro b it of its well-earned food. It has a loud scream, which I omitted to syllabize when listening 
to it, but which Audubon likens to the syllables 00ee oo-ee-, and he says that when seized or wounded it utters 
a plaintive cry differing from the ordinary note. Its food consists of fish, cephalopods, floating animalcule, &c„ 
besides which it will pick up various substances thrown overboard from ships. 
A 1 idification. The Wide-awake breeds, as a ride, in vast colonies on small islands or reefs, many such 
breedmg-p aces having been discovered within the last fifty years. The following are known to me ; and as far 
as I am able I have given the dates, from which it appears that the breeding-time varies at different places from 
December until August :-Cherbamani reef, Laccadives (February) ; Houtmanfrs Abrolbos, W Australia 
(December); Torres Straits (May and June); Raines Island Barrier Reef (August); Ascension (December 
and June) ; St. Thomas s. West Indies; Florida Keys. The eggs are laid in a depression in the sand 
scratched by the bird, and often near the shelter of a bush; they vary from one to three in number and 
n bile the bird is sitting on them she will suffer herself to be taken by hand, hissing and biting at the intruder 
, ume gives an interesting account of his visit to Cherbaniani, and states that the ground literally swarmed 
y i young ones, which ran about between his feet in such a manner that it was difficult to avoid treading on 
them On taking some young back to the reef on the following day, the parents, amidst thousands of birds, 
immediately found out their lost offspring ! The eggs of the Sooty Tern vary much, both in ground-colour and 
mar ving some are almost pure white, and many different tints are observable between that and the pale salmon- 
colour of others. 1 hey are, as a rule, broad, rather pointed, ovals, the shell moderately smooth and with scarcely 
any gloss Ihe markings are very handsome, the whitest eggs being covered with openly distributed roundish 
blotches ot rich brownish red, or clouded with the same round the obtuse end, there being but few small spots 
on this latter type, but numerous clouds of purplish grey underlying the dark markings. Some white eggs are 
blotched throughout with obliquely-directed blots of a redder tint running into purplish grey. In others the 
blotches take a transverse direction : one specimen, in the fine series before me from Ascension Island, is smeared 
a over with light reddish washed-out blotches, mingled with streaks and scratches of the same, with large 
unc er ymg clouds of bluish grey. The dimensions of various specimens are as follows 2-19 by 1-43 1-97 
by D46, *17 by D39, *03 by D35, D84 by 1-35, and *05 by D39inches. The variation in shape will be 
thus observed ; some specimens are rather blunt at the small end. 
1 here subjoin some extracts from the accounts given by Audubon and Captain Sperling of the interesting 
breeding-places of this bird The latter writes, concerning Ascension « Leaving Comfortless Cove about the 
middle of the day, I walked over two dreary miles of cinders and ashes, uncheered by a symptom of vegetation 
before I noticed flocks ol Terns converging from various parts of the ocean to a spot apparently about a mile in 
ront of me ; but as yet I observed nothing of the ' fair ■/ at length, oil turning slightly to the left and surmount- 
ing a low ridge, the whole scene was disclosed. A gradual incline of a quarter of a mile terminated in a plain 
ol ten or fifteen acres in extent, which was literally covered with the birds. The plain was surrounded by low 
mountains, except on the side on which we stood; and being entirely sheltered from the wind, its heat under 
the full blaze of a tropical sun was very oppressive. No description can give an adequate idea of the effect pro- 
duced by the thousands upon thousands of these wild sea-birds floating and screaming over this arid cinder-bcd 
the eggs and young scattered so thickly on the ground that in some instances it was impossible to avoid 
crus u 1 0 t icm and the bleached bones of dead birds distributed in all directions. During our short walk 
down the incline, large flocks of parent birds hovered over our heads, and assailed us with plaintive cries, 
