408 Capt. H. W. Eeilden on the Birds observed 
of a small lake, not far from the ship, came upon an old bird 
accompanied by three nestlings, which they brought to me. 
The old bird proved to he a male; its stomach, and those of 
the young ones, were filled with insects. The following de¬ 
scription of the newly hatched birds was taken down at the 
time:—Iris black; tip of mandibles dark brown, bill dark 
olive; toes black, soles of feet greenish yellow; back of legs 
the same; underpart of throat satin-white; back beautifully 
mottled tortoise-shell. Dr. Coppinger informed me that this 
bird was not uncommon at Thank-God Harbour during July. 
In the first week of August, I saw family parties of Knots 
at Shift-rudder Bay (lat. 81° 52' N.) ; they were then in the 
grey autumn plumage. The Knot bred in the vicinity of 
Discovery Bay; but no eggs were found there, although the 
young were obtained in all stages of plumage. 
-f"Il. Sterna macrura. Arctic Tern. 
Is not uncommon in Smith Sound, and we found it breeding 
at several localities we visited on our way north. 11th August, 
1875, on Norman-Lockyer Island, I noticed several pairs, and 
picked up a bleached egg, probably an addled one of a former 
season. August 21st, we found eight or ten pairs breeding 
on a small islet off the north end of Bellot Island (lat. 81° 44' 
N.): the land at this date was covered with snow; and on the 
islet it lay about three inches deep. In one nest I found a 
newly hatched Tern; it seemed quite well and lively in its 
snow cradle. The parent birds had evidently thrown the snow 
out of the nest as it fell; for it was surrounded by a border 
of snow marked by the feet of the old birds, and raised at 
least two inches above the general level. The Terns on this 
islet were rather shy, none coming within range until I had 
handled the young one. There seemed to be abundance of 
fish in the pools between the floes, as the old birds were flying 
with them in their mandibles. The stomach of the female 
which I killed was empty ; but that of the nestling contained 
remains of fish. On the 16th June, 1876, three of these birds 
appeared in the neighbourhood of the winter-quarters of the 
f Alert. 5 By the end of June pairs of these birds were scat- 
