LESSER TERN. 
85 
nishes another proof that the actions of birds are not the effect of 
mere blind impulse, hut of volition, regulated by reason, depend- 
ing on various incidental circumstances to which their parental 
cares are ever awake. I lately visited those parts of the beach on 
Cape May where this little bird breeds. The eggs, generally four 
in number, were placed on the flat sands, safe beyond the reach of 
the highest summer tide. They were of a yellowish brown color, 
blotched with rufous, and measured nearly an inch and lliree quar- 
ters in length. During my whole stay, these birds flew in crowds 
around me, and often within a few yards of my head, squeaking 
like so many young pigs, which noise their voice strikingly resem- 
bles. A Humming-bird, that had accidentally strayed to the place, 
appeared suddenly among this outrageous group, several of whom 
darted angrily at him ; but he shot like an arrow from them, di- 
recting his flight straight towards the ocean. I have no doubt but 
the distressing cries of the Terns had drawn this little cieatuie to 
the scene, having frequently witnessed his anxious curiosity on 
similar occasions in the woods. 
The Lesser Tern feeds on beetles, crickets, spiders and other 
insects which it picks up from the marshes, as well as on small 
fish, on which it plunges at sea. Like the former, it also makes 
extensive incursions inland along the river courses, and has fre- 
quently been shot several hundred miles from the sea. It some- 
times sits for hours together on the sands, as if resting after the 
fatigues of flight to which it is exposed. 
The Lesser Tern is extremely tame and unsuspicious, often 
passing you in its flight, and within a few yards, as it traces the 
windings and indentations of the shore in search of its favorite 
prawns and skippers. Indeed at such times it appears either alto- 
gether heedless of man, or its eagerness for food overcomes its ap- 
prehensions for its own safety. We read in ancient authors that 
the fishermen used to float a cross of wood, in the middle of which 
was fastened a small fish for a bait, with limed twigs stuck to the 
Y 
VOL. VII. 
