20 
Lost British Birds . 
IX. Black Tern —Sterna nigra. This most aerial and 
elegant bird of the sea and inland waters was once exces¬ 
sively abundant in the fen country, where it bred annually, 
and has been lost to us as a summer resident almost within 
the memory of men still living. “ Blue dorr ” was its local 
name in the Norfolk Broad district; in Lincolnshire it was 
called “ carr-swallow ” and “ carr-crow.” Turner (Historia 
Avium,, 1548) spoke of its excessive clamour during the breed¬ 
ing season, which was enough to deafen those who lived near 
the lakes and marshes it frequented. Pennant, describing the 
East fen, visited by him in 1769, speaks of the Black Tern 
in great flocks, almost deafening one with their clamour. 
Richard Lubbock, about 1818, wrote, “it breeds in myriads 
at Upton,” near Acle, Norfolk. It ceased to breed in that 
county about 1835, from what cause is not accurately 
known. In 1832 it was still breeding in immense numbers 
in Crowland Wash, Lincolnshire. In 1853 some birds re¬ 
turned, and two or three nests were found in Hockwold Fen. 
In 1858 a solitary pair bred at Sutton, Norfolk, laying two 
eggs, which were taken and the birds shot. 
Thus ends the story of the Black Tern as a British resi¬ 
dent species; the few that revisit our shores stay not to 
breed. The “ great clamour ” is a thing of the past. Many 
of us would now gladly submit to be deafened by it. 
X. Bittern —Botanrus stellaris. This species, once 
called the common bittern, and found in all suitable localities 
in England, Scotland and Ireland, was one of the most 
fascinating of the British birds on account of its solitary, 
mysterious habits, its strange richly coloured and beautifully 
pencilled plumage, and that booming cry, once familar in our 
land, that “ shakes the sounding marsh.” This “ boom,” 
which was uttered during the love season, is likened by those 
who have heard it to the deep-toned bellowing of a bull. 
People wondered how so vast a volume of sound could pro¬ 
ceed from a bird of its size ; and superstitious persons, who 
dwelt commonly within hearing of it, attributed the sound 
