STERNULA MINUTA. 
Little Tern. 
Sterna mimta, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 228. 
minor, Briss. Orn., tom. vi, p. 206, pi. 19. fig. 2. 
hicolor. Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat., tom. i. no. 110. 
metopoleucos, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 608. 
Sternula fissipes, pomarina, et Danica, Brehm, Handb. Naturg. aller Vog. Dentschl., pp. 790, 791. 
danubialis et meridionalis, Brehm (Bonap.). 
minuta, Bonaj). Rev. Grit, sur Degl. Orn. Europ., p. 199. 
How joyous are the emotions of the sailor when, towards the end of a long voyage, he sees the Little Tern 
flapping its long wings over the surface, or descending headlong into the ocean. Light-hearted is he now ; 
for he knows that this aerial sprite is a never-failing indication that the shore is near at hand, and that in 
a few hours he may get a short relief from his monotonous sea-life. Not only to the sailor, however, but to 
every one who loves the salt breeze, and seeks a change by resorting to the sea-shore, is this little bird an 
object of interest, its buoyant flight, actions, and whole economy being totally different from those of 
land-birds : the delicacy of its colouring also, harmonizing as it does with the blue vault of heaven under 
which it flies, the orange-red of its feet, and its structure beautifully adapted to the end for which it was 
formed, all excite feelings of pleasure and admiration. 
This lovely Tern is one of the smallest species of a family the members of which ai*e so universally dis- 
tributed that there is no portion of the world, except perhaps its extreme northern and southern regions, 
where one or other of them is not to be found. This maritime and fluviatile family of birds comprises 
so many different forms that they must of necessity be divided into many genera. Some are remarkable for 
their wing-powers, others for their great size ; others, again, are as diminutive as the present species ; and 
some offer a seeming alliance to the Petrels, as the members of the genus Anous. All the members of 
each of these various subdivisions assimilate most closely in their mode of life and general economy ; and 
thus the habits of the little Sternula Nereis of Australia are precisely similar to those of its antipodal 
representative, the S. minuta, whose history I now proceed with. 
Tlie Little Tern, which is a summer visitant to our islands, is dispersed at that season along the whole of 
our coasts from Sussex to the Orkneys, from Suffolk to the most western part of Ireland, and, moreover, 
breeds in every suitable situation — that is, wherever the bed of shingle, the strand, or the sandy sea-shore 
is not overrun by its greatest enemy, the thoughtless boy with his fowling-piece, who so frequently shoots 
these little mariners from sheer wantonness and mischief. Thoughtless beyond measure, cruel in the extreme, 
are those who destroy this lovely bird with no other object — cruel, because the pain does not end with the 
death of the victim ; the young, deprived of their parents, are left to starve and die on the shingle. The 
collector of eggs, when he exercises proper discretion, has, to a certain extent, an excuse ; for a little grief 
on the part of the birds is the only suffering; but the wanton destruction which I have seen dealt out to 
these pretty objects, I, for one, heartily deprecate. 
The Little Tern comes to us in May, and after spending here the three or four following months, departs 
with its brood to the neighbouring seas, fishing all round our coasts, sometimes in the sheltered bays, at 
others out in the open seas, but always within soundings. In all the temperate parts of Europe it does the 
same, the seas also which wash the shores of Africa, those of India, Malaya, and China ; everywhere within 
these limits at least, the bird is found at one season or the other. Sensitive to cold, it seeks warm and 
congenial climes in winter, and retires to more northern latitudes as the spring-time approaches. Its food 
consists of the fry of fishes and crustaceans, all which are obtained by immersion. A visit to the breeding- 
place of this species, with the opportunity it affords of watching its actions, forms one of the most pleasant 
times spent by the ornithologist. The birds unite in little colonies, and, like the Common Tern, incubate 
near each other. Their two eggs are placed in the midst of the shingle, being deposited in a little 
depression, without a nest other than a few bits of shells arranged neatly around. During the period of 
incubation the old birds may be seen dotted about over the surface of the shore, while others are passing 
overhead uttering their peculiar wailing cry. Sometimes these places, like that of the great shingle bed at 
Dungeness, are interspersed with the flowering stoneerop and foxglove, while others are bare and level 
sands, where, from the similarity in colour, it is difficult to detect the eggs or the newly fledged young. 
As is the case with the other Terns, this species undergoes a seasonal change, which is principally 
apparent in the black Avhich covers the crown in summer becoming restricted to the hinder part of the 
head, and the white on the forehead more extensive, in winter. 
