THE ROSEATE TERN.

STERNA DOUGALLII.

SINCE the discovery of the Roseate Tern in the Cumbrae Islands by Dr M'Dougall, in 1812, it has been known to frequent a number of localities throughout Scotland; and although many years have elapsed since it totally disappeared from The Allans,' where it was originally met with, it is still found in considerable numbers in many parts of the western counties. The principal breeding place within easy reach is situated in Kilbrannan Sound, separating Arran from Kintyre. Two or three years ago I got a basketful of eggs from this station, gathered in a few minutes; but I afterwards regretted having taken so many, as I found on leaving the place that a number of pairs of the common tern were hovering overhead, mixed with the rarer species, from which I inferred that some of the eggs at least in my basket were not those of the Roseate Tern. The whole of them were blown, and about thirty specimens are now before me. They appear somewhat longer, of a lighter colour, and more minutely marked than those of the arctic or common terns.

A few pairs of this very elegant bird have located themselves on Inchmoin, in Loch Lomond, where they breed in company with the two birds just named and the lesser and sandwich terns. The island is the property of Sir James Colquhoun, Bart., and is strictly protected, as it certainly ought to be.

The Roseate Tern still frequents the Culbin Sands, in Morayshire, and has also been found in East Lothian by Mr Turnbull, who states that it is not uncommon, and that it breeds on the isle of May."

THE COMMON TERN.

STERNA HIRUNDO.

Stearnan.

ALTHOUGH called the Common Tern this bird is in reality much less numerous than the species which follows: it is, however, not a scarce bird, being in most cases found in some numbers mixing

*Birds of East Lothian,' page 34.

with the more plentiful species, although the arctic tern does not appear to travel inland to breed as the Common Tern is known to do. In the Outer Hebrides this tern breeds on various islands in the Sound of Harris, and also on the rocky islets lying west of the principal group-many of them being uninhabited. It is likewise tolerably common in some of the sea reaches in Ross-shire, and occurs on all the known breeding stations for terns from that county southwards. I have found several pairs breeding for many years past on Inchmoin, an island in Loch Lomond. On this island there is a large nursery of black-headed gulls, but the terns keep by themselves, occupying a stony promontory at one end of the island. During the breeding season, after the young are hatched, the old birds may be seen high in the air above the Loch Lomond hills, steering across to the Firth of Clyde for fish to feed their nestlings. I have stood near their nests and seen them arrive with these sea fish, which they sometimes carried by the middle of the body. From this habit, which is very noticeable, it would appear that the terns there prefer salt water fish to those nearer at hand; and there can be no doubt that in thus gratifying their partiality they are fulfilling an arrangement in which those who practice the "gentle art" on the loch must fully

concur.

In that beautiful piece of Scottish scenery-Loch Sunart-there are several populous breeding places of this graceful and interesting bird. These haunts are singularly enticing to an ornithologist who, without seeking to molest the busy multitudes, contents himself by watching their elegant flight as they whirl and glide above their summer encampment. About the end of June, or sometimes the middle of July, the congregations break up and disperse, small flocks betaking themselves to the sheltered bays of our western shores, travelling southwards as the season advances until they altogether disappear. In April and May these flocks return and frequently congregate in particular estuaries and rivers at no great distance from the sea, especially in rough weather. I have often at this season observed many hundreds at a time of both the common and arctic tern on the Clyde opposite Dumbarton Castle, and have remarked that their presence there always indicated an approaching storm.

The accompanying plate, in which an inquisitive sea swallow evidently betrays an acquiescence with the title of "Too many for