and young gar-fish forming the principal supply, upon which it precipitates itself as they rise near to 
the surface of the ocean. Its flight is strong and rapid, making a great advance at each stroke of the 
pinions ; and, except when engaged in incubation, it is almost constantly on the wing, uttering at intervals a 
hoarse and grating cry, which can be heard at a very great distance, and gives notice of its approach long 
before it is discoverable to the eye. If much disturbed by being fired at, or if the eggs be repeatedly 
taken at the commencement of the season, it deserts the station first selected and retii*es to some other 
place less liable to molestation. ... As soon as the young birds become tolerably fledged, but before 
they are altogether able to fly, they frequently take to the water, swimming off to the smaller rocks, where 
they continue to be fed by the parents until tliey are capable of joining them in their fishing-excursions. 
The time of their arrival is about the middle of May; incubation commences the first week in June; and 
nearly the whole have taken their departure for more southern latitudes by the end of September. The 
eggs are three or four in number, for the reception of which a shallow hole is scratched amongst the sea- 
campion {Silene maritima) or other plants that may happen to grow on the selected place. In size they 
are about equal to those of the Golden Plover, and are usually of a cream or wood-broAvn colour, blotched 
Avith dark brown and black, and with other spots of a lighter shade, appearing as if they were beneath the 
shell. The common varieties of them are either with fewer spots and blotches upon a white ground, or of 
a deep oil-green, with spots of a darker shade.” 
Mr. Harting, in his notes on ‘The Birds ofWatney Island ’ (situate on the north-west coast of Lancashire, 
to the west of Low Furness, and which is about nine miles long by a mile broad at its greatest breadth), 
says ; — “ Long before we reached the eyry of the Sandwich Terns we could point to tbe exact situation of 
the nests ; for the birds were continually hovering above and around them. As we approached they rose 
perpendicularly to a great height, keeping up a succession of harsh screams, not unlike the sound produced 
by running a sharp stick across a comb. The nests were composed entirely of grass, and placed quite close 
to eacli other on the ground, on the side of a sand-hill, among long thin grass. Standing still for a few 
minutes, I counted seventeen nests, all close to each other, and all containing eggs, the majority having three.” 
I may add a few words respecting the other countries in which this bird has been observed. Nilsson 
says it is seen occasionally in tbe soutbern parts of Sweden, and is included among the birds of Germany. 
Temminck states it to be abundant in North Holland. It frequents the coast of France, and is said to 
breed on some small islets off Ushant ; it visits some of the lakes of Switzerland, has been seen at Genoa and 
in Italy, and is well known in Portugal. Mr. Howard Saunders says it is “ tolerably abundant on the coast 
of Southern Spain, breeding at the mouth of the Ehro and along the shores of Mar Menor, near Cartagena.” 
Mr. Simpson noted it in the Dobrndscha. Lord Lilford states that it occasionally occurs at Butrinto, in 
the Ionian Islands. Mr. Salvin shot one flying over the Lagoon of El Baheira, and saw others in the Eastern 
Atlas. It was seen near Damietta by Mr. E. C. Taylor, and on the coast of Tangier and Morocco in winter 
by Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. Mr. Wright says a few are sometimes seen in autumn and winter at Malta. 
Messrs. Elwes and Buckley note that it is common on the Black Sea in summer, and breeds near Kustendji. 
And, lastly, Mr. Gurney includes it among the birds of South Africa. 
The Plate represents a male and a female in full summer dress, of the natural size. The plant is the 
sea-pea marithmmi). 
