488 
LARID2E. 
NA TA TORES. 
LARIDsE. 
BLACK TERN. 
CAR SWALLOW. 
Sterna nigra. 
PLATE CXXXV. 
The Black Tern, which used to breed in numbers in 
several of the marshy districts of this country, is now 
becoming very rare; in some parts of the counties of 
Cambridge and Lincoln it is, however, still very abun¬ 
dant. Although closely allied to the other species in 
most respects, the Black Tern differs from them a good 
deal in its nidification ; and, whilst all the other species 
choose the near neighbourhood of the sea, and usually 
resort to those places which are the most free from 
moisture, placing their eggs most frequently upon the 
arid sand, the Black Tern prefers inland marshes and 
pools of water, laying its eggs upon tufts of rushes 
and grass, sometimes in very wet situations, and barely 
raised above the surface of the water; its nest is com¬ 
posed of flags and coarse grass. 
Mr. Salmon sent me a number of the eggs which were 
taken off Crowland Wash, in Lincolnshire, where im¬ 
mense numbers of these birds used annually to resort 
to breed towards the end of May or beginning of June. 
Those now figured are selected from a large series sent 
me by Mr. Bridger, who obtained them on the banks of 
