British Sea Birds
_By_
CHARLES DIXON
AUTHOR OF
“THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS”;
“THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS”;
“ANNALS OF BIRD-LIFE”;
“THE MIGRATION OF BRITISH BIRDS”;
ETC. ETC.
_WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_
BY
CHARLES WHYMPER
[Illustration: ]
_LONDON_
BLISS, SANDS AND FOSTER
1896
_DEDICATION_
TO
_John William Pease, D.C.L._
[Pendower, Newcastle-upon-Tyne]
AS A SMALL BUT CORDIAL TOKEN OF ESTEEM
_This Volume is Inscribed_
BY
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
_GULLS AND TERNS._
The Gull Family—Changes of Plumage—Characteristics—Great
Black-backed Gull—Lesser Black-backed Gull—Herring Gull—Common
Gull—Kittiwake—Black-headed Gull—Skuas—Great Skua—Richardson’s
Skua—Terns—Sandwich Tern—Common Tern—Arctic Tern—Roseate
Tern—Lesser Tern—Black Tern _Pages_ 13-60
CHAPTER II.
_PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS._
Characteristics and Affinities—Changes of Plumage—Structural
Characters—Oyster-catcher—Ringed Plover—Kentish Plover—Golden
Plover—Gray Plover—Lapwing—Turnstone—Phalaropes—Gray
Phalarope—Red-necked Phalarope—Curlew—Whimbrel—Godwits—
Black-tailed Godwit—Bar-tailed Godwit—Redshank—Sanderling—
Knot—Curlew Sandpiper—Dunlin—Purple Sandpiper—Other species 61-121
CHAPTER III.
_GUILLEMOTS, RAZORBILL, AND PUFFIN._
Affinities and Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Guillemot—
Brunnich’s Guillemot—Black Guillemot—Razorbill—Little Auk—
Puffin 123-150
CHAPTER IV.
_DIVERS, GREBES, AND CORMORANTS._
Divers—Affinities and Characteristics—Great Northern Diver—
Black-throated Diver—Red-throated Diver—Grebes—
Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Great Crested Grebe—
Red-necked Grebe—Black-necked Grebe—Sclavonian Grebe—
Little Grebe—Cormorants—Characteristics—Changes of
Plumage—Cormorant—Shag—Gannet 151-184
CHAPTER V.
_DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS._
Ducks—Characteristics—Non-diving Ducks—Characteristics of—Changes
of Plumage—Sheldrake—Wigeon—Pintail Duck—Various other
Species—Diving Ducks—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Eider
Duck—King Eider—Common Scoter—Velvet Scoter—Scaup Duck—Tufted
Duck—Pochard—Golden-eye—Long-tailed Duck—Mergansers—
Characteristics and changes of Plumage—Red-breasted Merganser—
Goosander—Smew—Geese—Characteristics—Gray Lag Goose—
White-fronted Goose—Bean Goose—Brent Goose—Bernacle
Goose—Swans—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Hooper
Swan—Bewick’s Swan 185-240
CHAPTER VI.
_PETRELS._
Petrels—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Fulmar Petrel—
Fork-tailed Petrel—Stormy Petrel—Manx Shearwater 241-258
CHAPTER VII.
_LITTORAL LAND BIRDS._
Littoral Land Birds—White-tailed Eagle—Peregrine Falcon—
Raven—Jackdaw—Hooded Crow—Chough—Rock Pipit—Martins—Rock
Dove—Stock Dove—Heron—Various other Species 259-278
CHAPTER VIII.
_MIGRATION ON THE COAST._
The Best Coasts for Observing Migration—Migration of Species in
Present Volume—Order of Appearance of Migratory Birds—In
Spring—In Autumn—Spring Migration of Birds on the Coast—The
Earliest Species to Migrate—Departure of Winter Visitors—
Coasting Migrants—Arrival of Summer Visitors—Duration of
Spring Migration—Autumn Migration of Birds on the Coast—The
Earliest Arrivals—Departure of our Summer Birds—Arrival of
Shore Birds—Direction of Flight—Change in this Direction to
East—The Vast Rushes of Birds across the German Ocean—The
Perils of Migration—Birds at Lighthouses and Light
Vessels—Netting Birds—Rare Birds 279-295
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Black-backed Gull and Common Tern _Faces page_ 15
Ruffs—_Sparring_ ” ” 63
Guillemot and Razorbill ” ” 125
Great Northern Diver ” ” 153
Tufted Duck ” ” 187
The Stormy Petrel ” ” 243
The Chough ” ” 261
Migration Time (_on the Friskney foreshore_) ” ” 281
_Gulls and Terns_
[Illustration: BLACK-BACKED GULL AND COMMON TERN. Chapter i.]
CHAPTER I.
GULLS AND TERNS.
_The Gull Family—Changes of Plumage—Characteristics—Great Black-backed
Gull—Lesser Black-backed Gull—Herring Gull—Common
Gull—Kittiwake—Black-headed Gull—Skuas—Great Skua—Richardson’s
Skua—Terns—Sandwich Tern—Common Tern—Arctic Tern—Roseate Tern—Lesser
Tern—Black Tern._
Amongst the many natural objects that confront the visitor to the sea,
there are none more readily detected than birds. The wide waters of the
ocean and its varied coast-line of cliff or sand, shingle or mud-flat,
are the haunts of many birds of specialised type. Many of these birds
are only found on or near the sea; they are as inseparably associated
with it as the beautiful shells and seaweeds and anemones themselves.
Some of these birds are common and widely distributed; others are scarce
or local in their habitat; some frequent the shore, others the water;
whilst many are equally at home on both. Again, many of them are
migratory, or of wandering habits; some but summer visitors, others
winter refugees. It matters little, however, what the season may be, for
many interesting birds are sure to be met with by the sea; the wide
waters and wet tide-swept shores are a perennial feeding place, and a
safe and congenial refuge.
Of all the birds that haunt the sea and the shore, those of the Gull
family are the best known. From whichever direction the sea is reached,
almost invariably the first indication of its vicinity is a Gull,
sailing along, it may be, in easy, careless flight, or wheeling and
gliding high in air above the waste of restless waters. The Gull and its
kindred then are inseparably associated in the minds of most people with
the sea, and with them, therefore, it certainly seems most appropriate
to commence our study of marine bird-life.
The Gull family is divided by many systematists into three fairly
well-defined groups or sub-families, viz., the typical Gulls or Larinæ,
the Skuas or Stercorariinæ, and the Terns or Sterninæ. The Skuas,
however, are included with the typical Gulls by many naturalists, a
proceeding for which much may be said, thus reducing the three
sub-families to two. In their distribution the Gulls and Terns may
almost be regarded as cosmopolitan, but the Skuas are chiefly boreal in
their dispersal, four of the half dozen known species breeding in the
Arctic Regions, and two others dwelling in the higher latitudes of the
Southern Hemisphere. Some of the species are very widely distributed;
the dispersal of others is just as remarkably restricted. For instance,
the Glaucous Gull has a circumpolar habitat, and the Black-headed Gull
ranges from the Faröe Islands to Japan; but, on the other hand, Larus
fuliginosus is said to be peculiar to the Galapagos Islands and Larus
bulleri to New Zealand. Three out of the four species of Arctic Skuas
are circumpolar in their distribution; the fourth may possibly be so.
In adult plumage the Gulls are not remarkable for any great diversity of
colour. French gray predominates upon the upper parts; the under parts
are white, often suffused with a delicate rosy tint; the primaries are
usually dark gray, brown, or black, in many species spotted and tipped
with white. Some species assume (by a change of colour and not by a
moult) a sooty-brown or black head or hood during the breeding season;
Ross’s Gull dons a black narrow collar at that period. The wings are
ample, long, and pointed; the tail is even, except in Ross’s Gull in
which it is wedge-shaped, and in Sabine’s Gull in which it is forked.
The legs are comparatively short, and the feet are webbed.
Gulls moult twice in the year. When first hatched young Gulls are
covered with down. Young, in first plumage of the Black-headed group of
Gulls, have the feathers of the mantle, the scapulars, and the innermost
secondaries, brown with pale margins; the crown, nape, and ear-coverts
brown; and the tail with a broad sub-terminal band of the same colour.
The second plumage—assumed as soon as the foregoing is completed—retains
brown marks of immaturity on the scapulars and innermost secondaries;
the wing-coverts are streaked with brown, and the tail still retains its
brown sub-terminal band. This plumage is carried until the following
spring, when the brown hood—assumed for the first time—is mottled with
white; the tail-band is more or less broken; whilst the scapulars and
innermost secondaries assume the colour peculiar to the adult. For
several years the white markings on the primaries gradually increase in
extent until the bird arrives at perfect maturity. The larger Gulls—of
which the Herring Gull may be taken as a typical species—mature much
more slowly, the perfectly adult plumage not being assumed until the
bird is four years old. The plumage succeeding the downy stage is brown
on the upper parts, each feather with a pale margin, and white on the
under parts streaked with brown. After each succeeding moult in spring
and autumn, the traces of immaturity grow less, the wing-coverts and
tail retaining them longest. The white spots on the primaries are the
latest signs of complete maturity. The colour of the feet, bill, iris,
and irides, slowly changes until that characteristic of the adult is
assumed.
Gulls, popularly speaking, are inseparably associated with the sea, yet
the haunts of many species, especially during the breeding season, are
by no means exclusively marine ones. Almost every kind of coast is
frequented by these birds—rocky headlands, precipitous downs, sandy
dunes, mud-flats or slob-lands, and marshes; whilst every harbour round
the shore of our islands is periodically visited. Gulls are not very
pronounced migrants. They wander about a good deal during the
non-breeding season, and many Arctic species draw southwards during
winter, but all the indigenous British forms are residents on and off
the coasts throughout the year. With these few words of introduction we
will now proceed to give a more detailed account of the strictly British
species.
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL.
This, the largest of the Gulls, and scientifically known as _Larus
marinus_, is one of the least common British species, most locally
distributed during the breeding season. It is not known to breed
anywhere on the east coast of England, and but very locally on the south
coast, in Dorset. It becomes more numerous in the wilder districts, in
Cornwall, the Scilly Islands, and Lundy, and thence locally along the
Welsh coast and in the Solway district. In Scotland it becomes more
common, especially among the islands of the west coast, including St.
Kilda, and on the north coast to the Orkneys and Shetlands. It is also
widely distributed in Ireland, but there, as everywhere else, extremely
local, and nowhere, comparatively speaking, numerous. During the
non-breeding season it wanders more, and is then seen at many places
along the coast. I have seen as many as fifty of these fine birds in Tor
Bay, after heavy gales from the eastward. Montagu asserts that this Gull
is locally known as a “Cob,” but the term is of pretty general
application to the larger Gulls, and, so far as I can learn, has no
distinctive significance. In St. Kilda, where I had many opportunities
of studying the habits of this Gull, it is regarded with hatred by the
natives, owing to its depredations amongst the eggs of the other
sea-fowl. In this island it is universally known by the name of
“Farspach.” No Gull is more wary, and yet on occasion none are bolder
and more daring. I have seen a bird of this species tear to pieces a
Puffin I had shot as it floated upon the sea, and that in spite of
several shots I had at it with a rifle. It is a sad robber of the other
and more weakly Gulls, not only pillaging their nests at every
opportunity, but chasing them, and making them relinquish bits of food
they may chance to pick up within view. Like the Raven and the Crow, it
seems fully conscious of its marauding misdeeds, and correspondingly
artful, as if always instinctively fearing that treatment it metes out
so lavishly to creatures more helpless than itself.
The Great Black-backed Gull is one of the least gregarious of the
family, and the large gatherings of this species that are sometimes
witnessed are chiefly due to such accidental causes as an unwonted
supply of food, or a continued spell of boisterous weather, which often
drives Gulls in thousands into sheltered bays and estuaries. This Gull
is generally met with beating about in a solitary manner; less
frequently three or four may be seen together; whilst even in the
breeding season, when most Gulls congregate into colonies whose size
seems only to be regulated by the accommodation presented, it is
certainly the least sociable of all the British species. It is a great
nomad during the non-breeding season, often wandering far from land,
resting and sleeping on the sea. On the other hand, it is one of the
least frequent visitors of the Gull-tribe to inland districts, and, as
its specific name of _marinus_ indicates, is closely attached to the
sea. The usual call-note of this fine Gull is a loud, whining,
oft-repeated _ag-ag-ag_. Notwithstanding the purity of its plumage, and
the magnificence of its presence, the Great Black-backed Gull is almost
as unclean in its habits as the Raven or the Vulture. No kind of carrion
is refused, either lying on the shore or floating on the sea—weakly,
death-stricken lambs or wounded birds, eggs or chicks left unguarded by
their owners, fish basking or sleeping near the surface, offal cast from
the fishing boats or quays, animal refuse of all kinds, form the prey of
this Gull.
The usual breeding place of this Gull is the top of an isolated rock
stack, a little distance from the mainland; less frequently it selects a
range of high cliffs overhanging the sea. A small island in a mountain
loch is sometimes selected, and occasionally this may be some
considerable distance inland. In a few chosen spots the birds nest in
such close, if somewhat scattered proximity, that we might call it a
colony, but the rule is for odd and more or less isolated pairs to be
met with, and often at considerable distances apart. The fact that this
Gull may be found nesting in one chosen spot year by year, warrants the
supposition that it may pair for life. The usually scanty nest is made
in a hollow amongst the short turf, or heath, or on the flat ledge of a
precipice. Sometimes the eggs are laid in a bare hollow amongst the
rocks. It is formed of grass, dry sea-weed, twigs, and stalks of marine
plants, and occasionally a tuft of wool or a few odd feathers are placed
in the lining. The eggs are usually three in number, but sometimes only
two, or even one. They are grayish-brown, or brown sometimes tinged with
olive in ground colour, spotted with dark umber-brown and brownish-gray.
This Gull is a very light sitter, but is bold and clamorous when
disturbed from the nest.
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.
Very similar in appearance, but much smaller in size—it is only about
half the weight—this pretty Gull, the _Larus fuscus_ of Linnæus, is one
of the most familiar birds of the coast, especially in the more
northerly portions of the British Islands. It is a more trustful species
than its larger ally, admits man to approach it with less show of fear
or wariness, and may often be seen on the meadows and ploughed fields
near the sea, seeking for its food as familiarly as a Rook or a Daw.
Singularly enough, the east and south coasts of England are not resorted
to by this Gull for breeding purposes. It is not known to breed south of
the coast of Northumberland, or east of that of Devonshire; and this is
all the more remarkable, seeing that one of its most important colonies
in our area is situated upon the Farne Islands. It breeds locally from
Cornwall to the Solway, but further northwards becomes more generally
dispersed, right up to the Orkneys and the Shetlands. In Ireland, again,
this Gull is a very local breeder, and is only known to nest in one or
two localities. During the non-breeding season it wanders far from home,
and may then be met with on and off most of the British coasts: young
and immature birds do not resort much to the nesting colonies, but roam
widely at all seasons. It is a very remarkable fact that adult Gulls of
this species are so rarely seen near Heligoland, as the species breeds
commonly on the Baltic and Scandinavian coasts, and yet its average
appearance at the island is about once in ten years! The Heligolandish
name for this Gull is very appropriate, signifying “little mantle
wearer,” and refers to the dark slate-gray mantle. Unlike its larger
ally the present species is very gregarious, and socially inclined at
all seasons, mixing freely not only with its own kind, but with the
Herring Gull and the smaller forms, such as the Kittiwake, and the
Common Gull. These latter birds, however, must too often prefer its room
to its company, for it repeatedly robs them of their prey, and is,
Gull-like, ever ready to profit by the labours of its weaker congeners.
Like the preceding species it is almost omnivorous in its tastes, and
will as readily make a meal from stranded garbage on the shore, as from
the living fish it deftly swoops upon as they swim near the surface. On
the Lincolnshire coasts it visits the flight nets, in company with the
Hooded Crows, and preys upon any birds that may be entangled in them. It
is also a persistent follower of ships, attending the trawlers, and
feeding upon the refuse fish cast overboard when the trawl net is
emptied. It swims lightly enough even on a rough sea, riding like a cork
on the wave-crests, and sleeps upon the water, when roaming far from
land. Flocks of this Gull may often be seen standing upon the mud-flats
or level sandy reaches, preening their plumage, and waiting, it may be,
for a turn of the tide that may bring some particular food of which they
are in quest. It will be remarked that these larger Gulls, especially,
often run for a short distance before taking flight, and that when
alighting they frequently keep their long wings unfolded and erect for a
moment or two before finally closing them. Great numbers of Lesser
Black-backed Gulls and other species collect in Tor Bay during the
herring and sprat seasons, and at these times they will wait and watch
about the harbours and quays in fluttering hosts for the odd fish and
offal. The note of this Gull very closely resembles that of the Herring
Gull, so closely, in fact, that no symbol can denote the difference. It
may be syllabled as _klĭ-ou-klĭ-ou_, and during the breeding season is
very persistently uttered. Owing to its relatively longer wings, this
Gull looks more graceful in the air than its larger and heavier
congener: its flight is remarkably easy and buoyant, and on occasion
rapid.
The usual breeding places of the Lesser Black-backed Gull are low rocky
islands—these larger Gulls always prefer an island, covered with coarse
marine grass, sea campion, and the like—but in some localities a rock
stack, an island in an inland lake, on grassy downs, in mosses, and
flows. This Gull usually breeds in colonies, and some of these are very
large. One of the most extensive, within the present writer’s
experience, is situated on the Farne Islands. The entire group of
islands may be regarded as one vast colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls,
if we except a few of the outlying rocks, where the Cormorants breed. It
is more than likely that this Gull pairs for life, seeing that it
resorts to the same nesting places, year by year, for time out of mind.
The nest, even in the same colony, varies a good deal in size and
general completeness. Some birds are content merely to line a hollow in
the rocks with a little dry grass; others are more bulky yet slovenly
structures, rude heaps of turf, heather stems, sea campions, or dry
grass and sea-weed, the lining being composed of finer grasses, many of
them often semi-green. Occasionally a feather or two are seen, but these
may be due more to accident than to design. Few sights in the bird-world
are prettier than a colony of disturbed Gulls during the breeding
season. As their haunts are invaded, the frightened birds rise in
fluttering thousands, drifting to and fro like a snowstorm, in which
each flake is a startled bird. The noisy din, the rush of wings, the
swooping, soaring, fluttering Gulls, the ground strewn with nests—all
combine to form a picture in the mind that time can never efface! The
eggs of this Gull are usually three in number, sometimes as many as
four. They vary to an almost incredible degree. The ground colour varies
from pale green to dark olive-brown and gray, spotted, blotched, or
streaked with dark liver-brown, pale brown and gray. Vast numbers of the
eggs of this Gull are collected for food, especially at the Farne
Islands. The birds do not appear to suffer in any way by this systematic
pillage, for they are always allowed to rear a brood from a second
clutch at the Farnes, and most rigorously protected whilst doing so.
HERRING-GULL.
Of all the gulls that frequent the British coasts, this, the well-known
_Larus argentatus_ (_i.e._ “silver-winged”), is certainly the most
common and widely dispersed. It is no exaggeration to say that the
Herring-Gull may be met with on every part of the British coasts, from
the Orkney and Shetland Islands on the north, to Cornwall and the Scilly
Islands in the south; from the Blasquets in the wild west of Ireland, to
the mouth of the Thames and the Bass Rock in the east. It is the Gull
_par excellence_ associated in the popular mind with the sea shore—the
“Sea Gull” of the visitor to marine resorts, ubiquitous, well-known from
the Land’s End to John-o’-Groat’s. For its size, it is certainly the
tamest and least suspecting Gull found on British waters. It may be
readily recognised, when adult, by the pale grey colour of its mantle,
but the young and immature birds are less easily identified. During the
non-breeding season it wanders far and wide like the rest of its kind,
and is a very frequent visitor to the fields, not only adjoining the
sea, but at some distance inland. Whilst tilling operations are in
progress, especially in spring, it passes regularly from the coast to
the fields, following the plough, or collecting upon the newly-manured
pastures, in quest of food. Wild, stormy weather, I have repeatedly
noticed, will also drive this Gull landwards sooner, perhaps, than any
other species. Like its congeners, it is practically omnivorous. Carrion
is sought after as readily as living fish and other marine creatures. I
have also known this species regularly to visit a slaughter-house near
the coast, to feed upon the offal thrown upon the pastures for manure;
and I have repeatedly watched the pure-plumaged birds fighting with the
Rooks and Crows for a share of the feast. This Gull will also feed on
grain, grubs, and worms, is a constant follower of vessels, and
congregates in unusual numbers at fishing harbours during the sprat and
herring seasons. In its flight it is graceful in the extreme, and it may
often be seen soaring at a vast altitude like a Vulture. Writing on the
flight of this Gull, Gätke (in his fascinating work, _Heligoland, as an
Ornithological Observatory_) says: “Not only are these Gulls able to
soar in a calm atmosphere in a direction straight forwards, or sideways,
on calmly outspread wings, but, as has been more fully discussed in the
case of Buzzards, they can also, in a manner similar to theirs, soar
upwards to any desirable altitude. The Gulls are able to perform their
soaring movements on the same plane in all phases of the weather, during
the most violent storm, as well as in a perfect calm, progressing
forwards or sideways at the most variable rates of velocity; now darting
along with the swiftness of an arrow, now merely gliding, as it were, at
the slowest pace imaginable. In the latter case, indeed, we are
frequently, even against our will, forced to the conclusion that these
birds must have at their command some unknown means or mechanism which
prevents their sinking; for neither is the surface-area of their wings
large enough, nor are these organs sufficiently concave in form, to
allow of their supporting the bird after the manner of a parachute.” I
can endorse these remarks fully from my own observations (Conf. _Idle
Hours with Nature_, pp. 261, 262). That these flights are accompanied
with any vibratory movements of the feathers is erroneous, as I have had
many opportunities of satisfying myself, especially when observing the
flight of the Fulmar at St. Kilda, the birds then not being more than
six feet away from me, when I am positive every individual feather was
in perfect rest.
But to return from this digression to the general habits of the Herring
Gull. The breeding season of this Gull is in May and June. Owing to its
remarkable aptitude for accommodating itself to the various
peculiarities of the coast, it is certainly the most widely dispersed
Gull of the British species during the season of reproduction. Perhaps
its favourite breeding place is a low rocky island, but failing this it
is equally at home upon a range of sea cliffs, a stack of rocks, or less
frequently an island in a loch, or, as at Foulshaw Moss in Westmoreland,
a marsh. The nest is made on a ledge or in a hollow or chink of the
cliffs; in a sheltered hollow of the grassy downs: or amongst the thick
growth of sea campion, thrift, and other marine plants that often grow
so luxuriantly in the bird’s haunts. I have remarked that the nest is
usually larger when built on a cliff than when on the ground, and in
some cases is almost dispensed with. It is composed of turf, dry
sea-weed, coarse grass, and stalks of various marine plants, lined with
finer grass often gathered green. The eggs are two or three in number,
varying in ground colour from pale bluish-green through yellowish-brown
to olive-brown, and the spots are small and few and dark brown, pale
brown, and gray. This Gull will lay a second lot of eggs if the first
clutch be taken, as they often are, for culinary purposes. When the
nesting places are intruded upon by human visitors, the Gulls, as usual,
become very noisy, the birds whose eggs are most directly threatened
being filled with the greatest clamour. I have often remarked that Gulls
whose nests were safe in inaccessible parts of the cliffs have remained
quietly sitting on them, while their less fortunate neighbours have been
filled with noisy alarm, as they watched the fate of their eggs from the
air above. The note is very similar to that of the preceding species.
COMMON GULL.
This pretty Gull, the _Larus canus_ of Linnæus, is, during the summer
months especially, one of the most locally distributed of the British
species. The Common Gull formerly bred in Lancashire, but at the present
time is not known to do so anywhere in England. From the Solway
northwards, it becomes tolerably common as a breeding species, right up
to the Shetlands, in many inland localities, as well as on the coast. It
is also a somewhat local bird in Ireland. The Common Gull, or “Blue
Maa,” as it is locally known, is about half the size of the Herring
Gull, with a mantle, in the adult, almost as dark as that of the Lesser
Black-backed Gull. During the non-breeding season this Gull is fairly
well distributed along the coast, and then visits localities where it is
never seen in summer. It is a decided shore species, rarely wandering
far out to sea, and is one of the first Gulls driven inland by stormy
weather. Although popularly believed to be so inseparably associated
with the sea, the Gulls, and especially the smaller kinds such as the
one now under notice, often resort to fields even at some distance from
the water. The Common Gull seems as much at home inland as on the shore.
I have seen it on the high moorlands, and in Scotland flying about many
a loch pool, or land-locked sea arm; it is equally at home on the
ploughed lands and the pastures, yet its plumage seems strangely out of
place in such localities, and the incongruity is further intensified
should the startled birds take refuge in a neighbouring tree, as they
sometimes do. There is nothing specially remarkable about the flight of
this Gull; it is performed in the slow and deliberate manner of all
these birds, and is equally wonderful in many of its characteristics.
The food of this Gull is composed indiscriminately of marine and
terrestrial creatures. The bird will follow the plough, or search the
pastures for grubs, insects, and worms; it searches the shore for any
stranded creature to its omnivorous taste; it hunts the wide waste of
waters in quest of fish, and follows vessels to pick up any refuse that
may be thrown from them. This Gull is to a great extent nocturnal in
autumn and winter. Its note is a harsh and persistently uttered
_yak-yak-yak_, most frequently heard when its breeding places are
invaded by man or predaceous animals. The Common Gull is a thoroughly
gregarious and social bird, often congregating in large flocks, and
mingling with other species.
By the end of April most of the adult Common Gulls have left all our
southern coasts and retired northwards to their breeding places. As
these are visited yearly in succession, it is not improbable that this
Gull pairs for life. Its nest colonies are situated both inland and on
the coast. An island in a mountain lake, the marshy shore of a loch, the
flat table-like summit of a rock stack, or the rolling grassy downs near
the open sea, in little populated districts, may be chosen; but so far
as my experience with this Gull extends, I have found the favourite site
to be rocky islands in quiet secluded sea-lochs. These colonies of
Common Gulls vary a good deal in size; and in some districts, perhaps
where suitable sites are scarce, the bird breeds in scattered pairs
only. The eggs are laid during the last half of May and the first half
of June; only one brood is reared in the season, but if the first eggs
are taken they are generally replaced. The nest of this Gull varies much
in size; some structures are mere hollows lined with a tuft or two of
grass; others are more elaborate, composed of heather stems, pieces of
turf, sea-weed, and stalks of marine plants, lined with finer grass,
often gathered green. They are built indiscriminately amongst the long
herbage, in hollows and crevices of rocks, or on ledges of the bare
cliffs. In Norway the eggs of this Gull have been taken from the
deserted nest of a Hooded Crow, in a pine tree, but no instances of a
similar character have occurred, so far as is known, in our islands. The
Common Gull usually lays three eggs, but instances of four are not rare.
They run from olive-brown to buffish-brown in ground colour, spotted and
often streaked with darker brown and brownish-gray. The eggs of this
Gull are extremely good eating. One often wonders why they are not
gathered for the table, just as much as those of the Lapwing.
KITTIWAKE.
This charming Gull, the _Larus tridactylus_ of scientists, so named from
its entirely absent or rudimentary hind toe, is one of the best known,
as it is one of the most widely distributed, British species. These
remarks are however most applicable to the non-breeding season; for
during the nesting time it is rather more local, owing to the conditions
under which its young are reared. The Kittiwake very closely resembles
the Common Gull in general appearance, but the mantle is paler, the legs
and feet are dark brown, and the primaries, or longest feathers of the
wings, have broad black tips: it is also a perceptibly smaller bird, the
smallest in fact of the typically marine Gulls. Of all the British Gulls
the Kittiwake is certainly the most maritime in its habits, and is never
known to visit inland districts, unless driven from the coast by storms
of exceptional violence. Save in the breeding season it may be met with
on all the low-lying coasts, visiting harbours, bays, and fishing
villages, and imbuing many a littoral scene with life. The Kittiwake is
a much more oceanic bird than the Common Gull, and often wanders immense
distances from land in quest of food. It is said that birds of this
species have been known to follow vessels across the North Atlantic, but
this seems almost incredible—not because the bird is physically unable
to perform the feat, but because we can scarcely believe any bird would
wander of its own free-will so far from the local centre of its habitat.
One of the most striking characteristics of the Kittiwake is its
peculiar cry, heard to the best advantage at the nesting places. This
note, from which the colloquial name of the species is derived,
resembles the syllables _kitty-a-ake_, requiring but little play upon
the imagination to render as _get-a-way-ah-get-away_. It is only during
the breeding season that this cry is heard to perfection, and after that
is over the bird becomes a singularly silent one. The flight of this
Gull is light and buoyant, but powerful and often long sustained. The
bird may often be observed fishing at no great distance from shore,
flying to and fro every now and then, poising and hovering previous to
pouncing down upon a fish or other floating object. It is also an adept
swimmer, and very frequently sleeps whilst sitting on the waves. The
Kittiwake is perhaps more exclusively a fish-feeder than any other
British Gull. It seldom searches for food on shore, and does not exhibit
those omnivorous tastes that characterise so many of its congeners. It
is a persistent follower of fish shoals, especially herrings and sprats,
and will remain in the company of fishing fleets for weeks together. A
scrap of food thrown from a ship will speedily be seized by one of these
birds; whilst a few crustaceans and other marine creatures are taken
from time to time.
The Kittiwake is a rather late breeder. It most probably pairs for life,
as the same nesting places are resorted to each season. Of all the Gulls
none breed in more inaccessible situations. The nests are almost always
built upon a beetling ocean cliff, against which the waves are for ever
beating in ceaseless strife. Except during the three months or so of the
breeding season, this Gull is seldom seen at its nesting sites. In April
or May the birds collect at their various stations, never quite to leave
them again until the young are able to fly. It is a very gregarious
bird, and some of these “gulleries” are very extensive, containing many
thousands of pairs. In some localities, however, where the accommodation
is either limited or unsuitable, but a few birds congregate to form a
colony. The nests, often made as close together as they can be wedged,
are built upon the ledges, shelves, and prominences of the rocks.
Favourite spots are where the cliffs overhang, or at the entrance of a
cave or hollow in the precipice. They are made at varying heights on the
cliff, tier above tier, the lowest often within a few feet of high-water
mark, but the most crowded places are usually about midway up from the
sea. The nests are large and well made, many of them apparently the
accumulation of years, composed externally of turf and roots, with much
of the soil attached, and caked together. Upon this foundation a further
nest of sea-weed and the stalks of various plants is formed, finally
lined with finer and dry grass, and sometimes a few feathers. The nests
and the cliffs in their vicinity are thickly whitewashed with the
droppings of the birds. The eggs are two or three in number, rarely
four, and vary from greenish-blue, through pale buff and buffish-brown
to brownish-olive, blotched and spotted with reddish-brown, paler brown,
and gray. No words of mine can adequately describe the beauty and
animation of a colony of Kittiwakes. Their cries are deafening, and when
the frightened birds flutter from the cliffs, and pass to and fro in
thousands like a living snowstorm, the effect, whether seen from the
water or from the cliffs above is charming in the extreme. It is sad to
think that such a spot should too often become a scene of slaughter. But
such is the case; the poor birds breeding too late fully to profit by
the protection afforded by law. Vast numbers of this pretty gentle Gull
are killed yearly, for the sake of their plumage. Even when the breeding
places are left, the poor birds are shot in thousands out at sea. The
Kittiwake is the most trustful perhaps of the Gulls, and a flock will
remain hovering round a boat until almost decimated by the gunners. The
young Kittiwake is widely known along the coast under the name of
“Tarrock.”
BLACK-HEADED GULL.
In most inland districts frequented by this Gull (the _Larus ridibundus_
of Linnæus) it is known as the “Peewit,” the “Peewit Gull,” or the
“Laughing Gull.” It is not only one of the most widely distributed but
one of the best known of our sea birds. And yet to describe the
Black-headed Gull as a “sea” bird in the sense we have hitherto used the
term is, to say the least, somewhat misleading. This species belongs to
a small group which might more appropriately be termed “marsh” Gulls. It
is almost as much seen in certain inland localities as it is in marine
ones; whilst in many of its habits it bears a close resemblance to the
Rook—feeding on the pastures, following the plough, and perching
regularly in trees. During spring and summer many of these Gulls resort
to inland haunts to breed—as for instance at Scoulton Mere in Norfolk,
Twigmoor in Lincolnshire, and Aqualate Mere in Staffordshire—and from
these centres visit the surrounding country for miles, in quest of food.
Slob-lands and low muddy coasts are favourite haunts of this Gull, but
during the non-breeding season it may be met with on almost all parts of
the coast. In winter it often wanders up the larger tidal rivers for
miles; and the Gulls that visited the Thames in such abundance during
recent winters, were principally of this species, doubtless from Norfolk
and Essex. Many of these Gulls appear to pass our southern coasts,
especially in spring, and I have remarked them again in great plenty
during the sprat season in late autumn. I may in addition state that
this migration has been observed along the coast of South Devon, the
nearest breeding station being near Poole in Dorset. The birds linger
about Tor Bay in spring until, in many cases, the full breeding
plumage—the sooty-brown head—is assumed.
Owing to the great diversity of its haunts the Black-headed Gull is
almost omnivorous in its diet. Inland it feeds on grubs—especially
wire-worms—insects, worms, fresh-water fish, and newly sown grain, as I
have often ascertained by dissection; on the sea coast it subsists on
fish, crustaceans, and various odds and ends obtained about harbours or
vessels. It seeks its food both whilst swimming about the water,
fluttering above it, or when walking on the shore. This Gull is much
more Tern-like in its habits than the larger species we have already
dealt with. Of its services to the agriculturist there can be no
question; it is just as useful on the land as the Rook, without that
bird’s few little pilfering ways.
The Black-headed Gull is an inland breeding species, and resorts to
marshes, wet moors, and meres, at varying distances from the sea.
Sometimes these breeding-places are in fairly well-timbered districts,
and often surrounded by trees and bushes. This Gull, too, is remarkably
gregarious during the breeding season, and some of its colonies are very
extensive, consisting of many thousands of pairs. The “gulleries” are
visited for nesting purposes in March or April, and as the birds return
to the same spots year after year, they probably pair for life. Nesting
begins in April. Most of the nests are made upon the ground in rush
tufts, in hassocks of coarse grass and sedge, amongst reeds in shallow
water, on masses of the previous year’s decayed aquatic vegetation, or
on the flat, spongy, moss-covered ground. Odd nests are occasionally
made in the trees and bushes, or even on boat-houses. Many of the nests
can only be described as mere rounded hollows in the cushions of grass
or sedge; the more elaborate structures are usually in the wettest
situations, and these latter are often added to as incubation advances,
either to replace the wear and tear from the incessant wash of the
water, or to provide a sufficiently large platform on which the young
may rest. The nests are made of bits of reed and rush, coarse grass,
flags, and scraps of moss, lined with finer materials of similar
description. The eggs of this Gull are usually three in number,
sometimes four. They are subject to much variation, ranging from rich
brown to pale bluish-green in ground colour, spotted, blotched, blurred,
and streaked with several shades of brown and gray. Large numbers of
these eggs are gathered for culinary purposes, the crop being
systematically taken, and the birds always allowed eventually to sit
upon their final clutch. Many of these eggs are passed off for those of
the Peewit by unscrupulous dealers, notably in Leadenhall market. Few
scenes in the bird world are prettier than a colony of Black-headed
Gulls. When disturbed at their nests the birds rise in fluttering
crowds, drifting noisily to and fro, anxious for the safety of their
eggs or helpless young. As is the invariable rule with birds that
continue to replace their taken eggs, but one brood is reared in the
season.
THE SKUAS.
These birds may be readily distinguished, even when on the wing, by the
cuneiform or wedge-shaped tail, and by the dark upper plumage. The bill
is also much stouter and hooked at the point, whilst the claws are sharp
and curved. Skuas are only exceptionally seen by the ordinary visitor to
the sea-side. In the first place, they only breed in our islands in the
extreme north or west of Scotland, and in the second place they are
decidedly oceanic in their habits, after the nesting season is passed.
Occasionally Skuas may be seen on migration, especially in autumn, and
along our eastern and southern seaboard; occasionally they are driven
shorewards by protracted stormy weather, and under these circumstances
have frequently been known to visit inland localities. Odd birds are
generally seen, perhaps a party of half a dozen, but on very exceptional
occasions large flocks make their appearance—witness the thousands of
Pomarine Skuas that visited the coast of Yorkshire during the autumns of
the years 1879 and 1880.
The Skuas are birds of remarkably powerful flight, displaying marvellous
command over themselves in the air, turning and twisting with great
speed. These birds are the Raptors of the sea; a terror to the Gulls and
Terns; merciless robbers of the hard-won spoil of more weakly species;
destroyers even of the eggs and helpless young of other sea birds. All
the four species of northern Skuas are visitors to the British Seas, but
only two of them are indigenous to our islands. The first of these to be
noticed here is the Great Skua, _Stercorarius catarrhactes_, one of the
most local of British birds during the breeding season, as its only
known nesting places in our area are on Unst and Foula, two small
islands of the Shetland Group. Except during the breeding season, the
Great Skua is mostly oceanic in its habitat, wandering long distances
from land in quest of prey, attending vessels and fishing fleets, only
drawing landwards by stress of weather or unusual abundance of food.
This Skua is practically omnivorous. During its summer sojourn near and
on the land it repeatedly raids the colonies of other sea fowl, to prey
upon exposed eggs or unguarded young; it captures the smaller Gulls,
notably the Kittiwake: it also picks up any stranded fish or other
carrion; and is constantly on the watch to chase any Gull or Tern that
catches a fish, following the poor bird with fatal persistency until,
terror stricken, it disgorges its food, which is promptly seized by the
voracious Skua. The call note of this Skua is very similar to that of
the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but when under the excitement of chasing
other birds, or of seeking to guard its own domain, the bird utters a
loud cry which is likened by many observers to the word _skua_ or
_skui_.
The Great Skua resorts to its breeding grounds in April, and the eggs
are laid in May. As it returns yearly to the same places, it very
possibly pairs for life. The nests are made upon the ground of the high
moorlands, amongst the heath and grass, and are mere hollows in the
moss, sometimes lined with a little dry grass. The eggs of this Skua are
two in number, and vary from pale buff to dark olive-brown in ground
colour, sparingly spotted and speckled with dark brown and
grayish-brown. These eggs are large in size, and very closely resemble
those of the Herring Gull. But one brood is reared in the year, and by
the end of August the young birds and their parents desert the nesting
colony, and adopt their pelagic habits. Few birds are so courageous in
defence of their nests as the Skua. Even such predaceous creatures as
Eagles, Ravens, and dogs are driven off; whilst human intruders are
screamed at and approached within a few feet, the birds wrathfully
extending their legs as if they would strike, and skimming to and fro in
rage. Many tales of this bird’s daring at its nesting places are current
in Shetland, where it is known almost universally as the “Bonxie.”
Our second species is Richardson’s Skua, the _Stercorarius richardsoni_
of some systematists, the _S. crepidatus_ of others. Although not quite
so local as the preceding species, its breeding area is remarkably
restricted, so far as the British Islands are concerned. It breeds on
the Hebrides, in Caithness and Sutherlandshire, and on the Orkneys and
Shetlands. Richardson’s Skua is a more gregarious species than its
larger relative, but its habits generally are much the same. It is, for
its size, equally daring and rapacious; is also remarkable for its
powers of flight; but differs from the Great Skua in being more
gregarious. Richardson’s Skua is for the most part a summer migrant to
the British Islands, and numbers of birds pass along our coasts in
spring to their northern breeding-grounds. It is only during the seasons
of passage that the visitor to our southern coasts may hope to fall in
with this bird, and even then it does not approach the land much. Like
the other Skuas, the present species is a relentless robber of the Gulls
and Terns, chasing them up and down until they disgorge their fish, and
repeating the process at every opportunity. Eggs, young birds, and
carrion, are also eaten. It is said to capture weakly birds, but I do
not think it is so much addicted to this Hawk-like habit as the
preceding species. During summer insects and ground fruits are eaten,
whilst it has been known to take worms and molluscs. The note of this
Skua is described either as a plaintive _mee_ or _kyow_, and when in
chase of a bird it has been likened to the syllable _yah_, oft repeated.
Richardson’s Skua reaches its breeding-grounds in the British Islands
early in May. Its haunts at this season are open moors, at no great
distance from the sea. Although social at its breeding-places, it can
scarcely be described as gregarious, and the nests are usually scattered
up and down the moorland area. This Skua appears to pair annually, and
the nest, always made upon the ground, is merely a hollow, carelessly
lined with a little dry herbage, and sometimes nothing but a shallow
cavity in the moss. The eggs, normally, are two, but sometimes three
have been found, and occasionally but one. They range from olive to
brown in ground colour, spotted and speckled with darker brown and
grayish brown. Incubation is performed by the female, and lasts about a
month. At its breeding-places Richardson’s Skua is very demonstrative,
and often reveals the situation of the nest by its anxious movements
above the intruder’s head. After the young are reared the moors are
deserted, and for the remainder of the year this Skua is decidedly
pelagic in its habits and haunts.
We now pass to the Terns. These pretty graceful birds—widely known as
“Sea Swallows”—differ in many respects from the Gulls and Skuas. They
most closely resemble the former in general appearance, but may be
easily distinguished by their slender form, small size, and forked tail.
Of the dozen species that have been regarded as “British,” no less than
five breed within the limits of our islands. The Terns are far more
locally distributed than the Gulls. Many miles of coast may be traversed
without one ever seeing a Tern. They are all migratory birds with us,
visiting Britain in summer to breed, and retiring south again in autumn.
It is only during the season of passage, therefore, that they are at all
widely dispersed, for the remainder of their sojourn on our coasts is
spent at or in the near vicinity of their breeding-stations. The five
indigenous British species follow.
SANDWICH TERN.
This fine species—the _Sterna cantiaca_ of Gmelin, and the _S.
sandvicensis_ of Latham—is not only the largest of the indigenous
British Terns, but one of the rarest. It was formerly much more widely
dispersed along our coasts, but persecution has thinned its numbers, and
the seaside holiday-maker has banished it from many of its old-time
haunts. Special interest attaches to this bird, because it is one of the
very few species that have been first made known to science from
examples obtained in the British Islands. It was first discovered in
1784, at Sandwich, on the coast of Kent, and described by Latham three
years later. Alas! no longer does this beautiful Tern breed in its early
haunts on the Kentish coast; it has disappeared from there, as it has
from many another locality, without hope of return. The most important
breeding-place of this Tern, and certainly the most accessible to the
majority of observers, is situated on the famous Farne Islands; even
here the bird is much less common than it used to be. There are small
colonies on Walney Island, in Cumberland, in the Solway district, on
Loch Lomond, in the Firth of Tay, and on the coast of Elgin. Its only
known breeding-station in Ireland is in Co. Mayo.
The Sandwich Tern reaches the British coasts in April or early in May.
But little is seen of this species whilst on passage, for it evidently
keeps some distance from shore as a rule, or passes quickly and
unobserved. The smaller Terns, for instance, are commonly seen on the
coast of South Devonshire in Spring and Autumn, but I cannot recall a
single strong migration of the present species in that locality. This
Tern is seldom or never seen at any distance from the sea. Most of its
waking time is spent in the air, flying about with easy, graceful
motion, in quest of its finny prey. The Sandwich Tern, however, is
nothing near so graceful looking on the wing as its smaller relatives,
the heavier body, broader wings, and much less acutely forked tail
giving it a heavier, more cumbersome appearance. Most of its food is
obtained whilst it hovers above the sea. The way in which all the Terns
feed is very pretty. They poise and hover above their finny victims, and
every now and then dart downwards like a stone into the water and
capture a fish, fluttering up again, or remaining for a moment to
swallow their capture. A flock of Terns (of any species) fishing is one
of the prettiest sights imaginable. In addition to small fish the
Sandwich Tern devours crustaceans of various kinds, whilst its young are
fed largely upon sand-lice and beetles. The Terns are much cleaner
feeders than the Gulls, and I have never known them touch carrion or
refuse. I have, however, seen them pounce down upon scraps of food
thrown from a vessel. The usual call-note of the Sandwich Tern is a
somewhat shrill scream.
This Tern probably pairs for life, and returns regularly every season to
its old-accustomed haunts to breed. These are by preference low, rocky,
or sandy islands, covered with marine herbage, varied with barer
patches, and with beaches of rough shingle. Similar conditions are
sought on the mainland, in a secluded spot on the coast, but an island
is always preferred. The Sandwich Tern is gregarious, but its colonies,
with one exception, in our islands are nowhere very extensive. This one
exception is at the Farne Islands, where it has been computed the birds
number upwards of a thousand pairs. As the nesting-places are visited
very regularly year by year this Tern probably pairs for life. I have
noticed, however, that the birds shift their actual breeding ground from
time to time, using several spots in succession. One year they will nest
here, another year there, on the same small island perhaps, but
sometimes removing _en masse_ to another one of the group. The nests are
always placed upon the ground, either amongst the sand shingle and
drifted _debris_, a short distance from high water mark, or amongst the
sea campion, thrift, and coarse grass further inland; sometimes a bare
mound on the highest part of the island is selected. Many nests are made
within a small area, sometimes so close together as to render walking
amongst them without treading on their contents a difficult matter. The
nests are slight enough, mere hollows lined with a few bits of withered
herbage, and in some cases even this simple provision is neglected. The
eggs, which are laid from about the middle of May to the middle of June,
are generally two in number, but sometimes three. These vary from
creamy-white to rich buff in ground colour, handsomely blotched and
spotted with various shades of brown and gray. During the hot June days
the eggs seem to require little incubation, but there are always plenty
of birds about the spot, ready to rise fluttering and screaming into the
air when their breeding grounds are invaded by man. But one brood is
reared in the season, yet if the first clutches of eggs be lost they
will be replaced.
COMMON TERN.
This Tern, known as the _Sterna hirundo_ of Linnæus, by most British
ornithologists, although there can be little doubt that the great
Swedish naturalist applied the term indiscriminately to this and the
Arctic Tern, is one of the best known British species, especially round
the English and Welsh coasts. It becomes rarer in Scotland, where it is
largely replaced by the Arctic Tern. The Common Tern, distinguished by
its white underparts from the Arctic Tern, is migratory and arrives on
the British coasts towards the end of April, retiring south in Autumn.
Its favourite haunts during the summer are the various groups of low
rocky islands, and the more secluded portions of the coast where
sandbanks and shingle occur. Save on passage, this Tern is seldom seen
far from the vicinity of its nest colony. The flight of the Common Tern
is exceedingly buoyant and graceful, the long slender wings and acutely
forked tail assisting greatly in the general effect. Like the Swallows
the tarsus of the Terns is remarkably short, so that on the ground the
birds seem awkward, and rarely attempt to walk far; on the sea, however,
they are quite at home and swim well. There are few prettier sights
along the shore than a flock of Terns busy in quest of food. Where the
beach is rocky, and the water somewhat deep inshore, the birds may be
watched with ease. In a serried throng they flutter to and fro; ever and
anon a bird falls down like a fragment of white glittering marble into
the sea with a loud splash, and in a moment rises again with its finny
prey. Bird after bird keeps dropping so; now and then a bird remains
swimming on the water; now and then two birds chase each other in rapid
flight. And so for miles the Terns will continue to follow the shoal
until hunger is satisfied, or the fish retire to greater depths. The
food of this species is chiefly composed of small fish, but insects and
crustaceans are also devoured. The note of the Common Tern is a shrill
_krick_ or _kree-ick_, most frequently uttered when the bird is flying
alarmed over its invaded nesting place.
The Common Tern is rather a late breeder, its eggs not being laid until
the end of May or early in June. It breeds in companies of varying size,
the suitability of the site being in some measure a determining cause.
This Tern is equally capricious in the site selected for the nests;
sometimes one spot is chosen, sometimes another; but there can be little
doubt that the bird pairs for life, and evinces considerable attachment
for its accustomed haunts. I have found almost invariably that the
Common Tern habitually lays its eggs farther from the water than the
Arctic Tern, and always prefers to conceal them amongst vegetation of
some kind. Islands are always preferred to the mainland, doubtless
because of their greater safety. We cannot class this bird as an
elaborate nest builder, a mere hollow, scantily lined with a little
withered grass or weeds, being the only provision. The two or three eggs
vary from buff to grayish-brown in ground colour, blotched and spotted
with several shades of rich brown and gray. But one brood is reared, and
as soon as the young are strong upon the wing, the nesting places are
deserted, and the movement south begins.
Terns migrate leisurely in autumn, often remaining a day or so here and
there, on and off the coast, and are then seen in localities which they
never frequent during summer.
THE ARCTIC TERN.
This Tern, widely known to systematists as the _Sterna arctica_ of
Temminck, was unaccountably confused with the preceding species, until
the German naturalist, Naumann, appears first to have pointed out their
specific distinctness. The Arctic Tern is _par excellence_ the Tern of
our northern coasts, say from the Farne Islands and Lancashire onwards
to the Orkneys and the Shetlands. I am not aware that it breeds anywhere
on the English coast between Spurn and the Scilly Islands, but there are
a few scattered colonies on the west coast of England and Wales. This
pretty Tern may be distinguished from its near ally, the Common Tern
(which it closely resembles in size and general appearance), by its
grayer under parts and perceptibly longer outermost tail feathers. Like
all its congeners, the Arctic Tern is a summer migrant to the British
seas and coasts, arriving from the south late in April or early in May.
It prefers very similar haunts to those of the preceding species—low
rocky islands with sandy or shingly beaches, and with a fair amount of
grass and other marine vegetation upon them. It is equally gregarious in
its habits, breeding in colonies, and returning regularly to certain
districts to rear its young. Its slenderer form, and proportionately
longer wings and tail, make it even more elegant looking in the air than
its congener. It catches its food in the same Hawk-like or Gannet-like
manner, pouncing down into the water and seizing the tiny fish as they
swim near the surface. No Tern dives, and it is certainly exceptional
for the bird completely to immerse itself; usually it flutters on the
surface for a moment, then rises again. Small fish and crustaceans form
the principal food of this species. Its note is very similar to that of
the preceding Tern—a shrill and monotonous _krick_, often prolonged into
two syllables.
The nesting season of this Tern begins in June, and fresh eggs may be
found throughout that month. Rocky islands seem everywhere to be
preferred for nesting places, and the same habit of changing the exact
hatching ground prevails in this as in the preceding species. The Farne
Islands are, or used to be, a great breeding station of the Arctic Tern,
and there I have taken great numbers of its eggs. The bird probably
pairs for life. It differs somewhat in its nesting arrangements from the
Common Tern, inasmuch that it never makes any nest. No lining of any
kind is placed in the hollow which contains the eggs, and this hollow is
generally selected ready made. Another peculiarity is that the eggs are
far more generally laid nearer to the water; and this applies not only
to the Farne Islands, but to every breeding place of this Tern that I
have visited. The two or three eggs are laid in any little depression in
the coarse sand or shingle on the line of drift, or amongst small
pebbles, or even on the bare ground or rock. These eggs vary from buff
to olive, and even pale bluish-green in ground colour, heavily blotched
and spotted, especially at the larger end, with dark brown, paler brown,
and gray. They are decidedly smaller than those of the Common Tern, more
elongated in shape, and are much more olive in general colour. When
disturbed from their eggs the Arctic Terns become very noisy, and rise
in fluttering crowds above the sacred spot, continuing to fly to and
fro, screaming anxiously until the intruder retires.
ROSEATE TERN.
It is with some hesitation that I include this species, the _Sterna
dougalli_ of Montagu, in the present work, because if it really does
visit our coasts now to breed, it is so exceedingly rare and local, that
any ordinary observer of bird life by the sea could scarcely hope to
meet with it. It is interesting to remark that the Roseate Tern was
first made known to science from a skin that was sent to Montagu, from
the Cumbrae Islands, in the Firth of Clyde. It was subsequently found
breeding on the Farne Islands by Selby; it formerly bred on the Scilly
Islands, as well as on Foulney and Walney; but so far as I can ascertain
there is no direct evidence that it breeds at any of these places now.
It may be distinguished from the Common Tern by its rosy under plumage;
but as this is very apt to fade, a still more infallible distinction,
according to Mr. Saunders, is the white inner margin to the primaries.
The Roseate Tern is a very late migrant, not reaching its breeding
places until towards the end of May. In its flight and habits generally,
it very closely resembles those of the preceding species; but its note
is hoarser than that of the Common Tern. The favourite breeding grounds
of this Tern appear to be low rocky islets and—so far as our islands are
concerned—it is partial to nesting among a larger colony of Arctic or
Common Terns. It does not appear to make any nest, but deposits its two
or three eggs on the bare ground, usually in a little hollow amongst the
shingle. These eggs very closely resemble those of the Common Tern; so
closely in fact that no reliable means of distinguishing them can be
given.
LESSER TERN.
This species (_Sterna minuta_) is by far the smallest of the Terns that
visit the British coasts in summer to breed. It cannot be said to be
anywhere common, and its breeding stations are few and far between.
Curiously enough, it is not known to breed on that great resort of
British sea fowl, the Farne Islands. There can be no doubt that this
Tern is slowly becoming rarer, and in view of this fact I do not feel
justified in assisting its extermination, by naming a single locality
known to me where it now breeds. The bird-loving reader will, I am sure,
appreciate this reticence. Small colonies of this pretty Tern are
situated here and there round the British coasts, and in one or two more
inland localities. The partiality of the Lesser Tern for the coast of
the mainland, rather than for islands, as a nesting ground, contributes
largely to the decrease in its numbers. It arrives on our coasts in May,
and is readily distinguished from all its congeners by its small size.
In its habits it is certainly gregarious, but nowhere are its gatherings
as extensive as in the other common British species. Like its congeners
it is eminently a bird of the air, flying up and down in restless
uncertain flight, living almost entirely on the wing during the daytime,
only seeking the sands or the sea to sleep or to rest. It may be watched
flying along the coast, a short distance from land, in a slow irregular
way, every now and then poising for a second, and then dropping into the
water with a tiny splash to seize a fish or a crustacean. Its note is
not quite so harsh as that of the larger species, and may be described
as a shrill _pirr_, most frequently uttered when its breeding places are
invaded. Its food is composed of small fish, insects, sand-lice, and
crustaceans, most of which is secured whilst the bird is on the wing.
The Lesser Tern begins breeding in June. Like all the other species it
returns unfailingly to certain spots along the coast each summer, and
may, therefore, be presumed to pair for life. Its favourite
breeding-grounds are extensive stretches of sand, varied with slips and
banks of coarser shingle. It makes no nest, not even so much as
scratching a hollow for its eggs, but lays them on the bare ground. It
is most interesting to remark that this Tern never lays its eggs on the
fine sand, but always on the bits of rough beach—where the ground is
strewn with little stones, broken shells, and other _débris_ of the
shore—where their colour harmonises so closely with surrounding objects
that discovery is difficult. The eggs are from two to four in number—I
have on two separate occasions taken clutches of the latter—but three
may be given as the average. They vary from buff to grayish-brown in
colour, blotched and spotted with various shades of darker brown and
gray. During the hottest hours of the day the female sits but little
upon them, and it is remarkable how quickly these shore birds will rise
from their nests at the first sign of impending danger—the alarm
doubtless being given by the male bird from the air above. It is a most
exceptional thing to see a conspicuously coloured bird rise from its
nest in a bare situation; the eggs are generally coloured protectively,
and resemble the objects around them; the presence of the showily
attired parent would inevitably lead to their discovery. Early in
autumn, when the young are strong upon the wing, the return journey to
the winter home on the African coast begins, and it is during these
migration journeys that the bird is, perhaps, most commonly observed
along the British seaboard.
BLACK TERN.
Allusion may here, perhaps, be permitted to the _Sterna nigra_ or
_Hydrochelidon nigra_ of ornithologists. The Black Tern formerly bred
commonly in our marshes and fens, but has long ceased to do so. The “Car
Swallow,” as it used to be widely called in the fens, belongs to the
group known as Marsh Terns—birds that rarely frequent the sea coast at
all, so that its absence from our avi-fauna, although greatly to be
deplored, could scarcely be remarked by the observer of marine species
alone. The White-winged Black Tern and the Whiskered Tern complete this
division, known as “Marsh Terns.” Both these latter are occasional
wanderers to the British Islands.
_Plovers and Sandpipers_
[Illustration: RUFFS—Sparring. Chapter ii.]