from the females only by their actions, but these actions 
were distinctive. With short, mincing steps a male would 
strut before a demure female. His puffed-out neck and 
his head were stretched up to the full extent, and his open 
bill was continually vibrating as he uttered rasping Crrrs . 
His long tail was cocked up between the wings, which were 
extended from the body, so that the shoulders stuck out 
nearly horizontally. At times he side-stepped, at times he 
pirouetted. Sometimes two or more males were acting thus 
in a group by themselves, as if each were trying to outdo 
the others. Sometimes two would fly at each other on the 
beach like gamecocks, and rise and continue the fight in 
the air. Again, a male would return from fishing with a 
sand-lance drooped from his bill, and, after eluding rivals 
who sought to take the fish from him, he would alight close 
to his beloved one and present her with the choice morsel, 
following up his gift with courtship antics. She, mean¬ 
while, calmly and apparently without the least concern for 
him, swallowed the tid-bit. 
I fully expected to find the terns laying their eggs above 
the beach after such actions, but no, they left for other 
regions. I think, however, that it is only a question of a 
short time before the terns return to their own and again 
nest at Ipswich Beach, as well as at other suitable localities 
in the County. It is to be remembered, however, that with 
the increase of the human population on our coast, the num¬ 
ber of available localities for breeding terns is becoming 
restricted, but with the assured safety of the colonies to 
the north and to the south of us we shall have increasing 
numbers of tern visitors to our shores. 
37 
