TERNS AT THE FARNE ISLANDS. 
67 
NOTES ON THE TERNS BREEDING AT THE 
FARNE ISLANDS.* 
BY R. W. CHASE. 
A visitor to the Fame Islands is at once struck with the 
immense number of birds upon them, especially during the 
breeding season, and his attention is immediately drawn to 
them instead of being attracted by the rocky aspect and wild 
grandeur of the Isles themselves. Amongst various species 
the Terns are not the least conspicuous, as they circle and 
swoop over an intruder’s head, uttering their shrill cries 
incessantly, and it is to this family that I shall confine my 
remarks upon the present occasion. I have visited the 
Fames several times during the breeding season, and in 
different months, so that I might have an opportunity of 
watching the habits of the Sterninas as far as possible during 
the whole period of raising their young. 
Four species of the genus Sterna may be considered as 
visiting these islands annually, viz.: S. jiuviatilis, the Com¬ 
mon Tern; 8. hirundo, the Arctic Tern; S. dougalli, the 
Roseate Tern; S. cantiaca , the Sandwich Tern. The habits 
of all these are in some respects similar, but upon close 
observation a considerable difference may be discerned, even 
between such closely allied species as fluviatilis and hirundo, 
which were considered for years to be one and the same bird, 
and the eggs of which it is impossible to pick out with 
certainty, unless you verify them by snaring the old bird on 
the nest. 
The principal breeding station of S. fluviatilis is on the 
“ Wide Opens,” where in some places the eggs are so thickly 
placed that it requires care not to step upon them. The nest 
is a slight hollow scratched by the bird and lined with stalks 
and roots of dead herbage. I found the favourite situation 
to be at the top of the rock where it is grassy and nearly 
covered with Sea Campion ( Silene maritima) some distance 
from the shore. The eggs are either two or three, more 
generally the latter number, I believe, and vary much in 
colour, from pale blue with few markings, to an olive-brown 
ground, well covered with dark-brown blotches. 
In some nests the eggs are very dissimilar to each other, 
but I have specially noticed that when the nest contains three 
* Transactions of the Birmingham Natural History and Micro¬ 
scopical Society. Bead at a Meeting, January 29th, 1884. 
