NESTING OF THE LITTLE AND COMMON TERNS, &C. 239 
Landwards the Nightjar was seen, and a nest of the Sedge 
Warbler with five eggs and one of the Turtle Dove with 
two eggs were found. It was noticed that the last mentioned 
species was decidedly common. 
Other commoner species and nests were also found. 
The War prevented me from fulfilling my intention of re¬ 
visiting this exceedingly interesting area, but I determined to 
get there last spring, and the 29th May 1920, saw me entrained 
for the coast. 
On this occasion I was alone and spent two days in the 
area, putting up at the village, which somewhat curtailed my time. 
It was too late to do anything on the evening of my arrival, 
but the following morning I made my way across the wide marshes 
towards the place where the Little Terns had been found nesting 
in 1912. Remembering how other Terneries had suffered on 
account of the military occupation of the coast I approached the 
beach with considerable misgivings, but these were to some 
extent allayed by the appearance of a Little Tern flying along 
one of the “ fleets,” as the dykes are locally termed. 
Having reached the shingle I proceeded watchfully along the 
shore towards the bank where the Little Tern had nested in 1912, 
but although I saw at least two more of this species near the 
bank I found nothing to lead me to conclude that there were any 
nests. 
I now decided to explore that part of the coast which we 
had not investigated in 1912, and during my progress I noticed 
that the Ringed Plover was still well represented, and later I 
found a nest of this species with three eggs. 
After traversing some miles of shingle, all of which would 
have provided the Terns with suitable nesting sites, I found my 
progress barred by a large creek and at this point the shingle is 
very extensive. 
Here I noticed that there were many Black-headed Gulls 
on the saltings, and just before I reached the large creek I was 
abruptly brought to a standstill by the long drawn out pee-r-r-r-ah 
of the Common Tern. Despite a careful search with the binoculars 
I could see no Tern. A deluging shower of rain swept over the 
bank and suspended operations, but when this was over I had 
the good luck to get my glasses on to a Common Tern with a fish 
in its bill. I was convinced that the Terns were not nesting on 
