ACTO CHEIií
ACTO CHE LID ON CANTIACA.
Sandwich Tern.
Sterna cantiaca, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 606.
— Boysii, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 806.
'ruevia, Bew. Brit. Birds, 1804, vol. ii. p. 207.
— stuberica, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iv. p. 679.
canescens, Meyer, Taschenb. deutsch. Vög., tom. ii. p. 458.
— africana, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 605.
striata, Gmel. ibid.> p. 609.
— nebulosa, Sparrm. Mus. Carls., tab. 63.
Columba columbina, Schrank, Faun. Boica, p. 252.
Actochelidon cantiaca, Kaup, Natürl. Syst., p. 31.
Thalasseus canescens, Brehm, Vög. Deutschl., p. 776.
------------- candicans, Brehm, ibid., p. 777, tab. 38. fig. 4.
-— cantiacus, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N. Amer., p. 61.
T h is very fine species of Tern is a summer resident with us, as it also is in Ireland and Scotland, but is
less abundant there than it is in England. In Holland, France, Spain, and the countries adjoining the
shores o f the Mediterranean generally, it is equally plentiful in the seasons o f summer and autumn. In
India and China it does not occur; but it is present in Africa from north to south. Bonaparte, in his
‘ Geographical and Comparative List of the Birds o f Europe and North America,’ assigns it a place in the
fauna o f the latter continent; but it is not now included in the enumeration of American birds by more
recent writers.. It is clear, then, that Western and Southern Europe, and Africa generally, comprise the
extent of its range. From the country last mentioned I have seen numerous specimens, most of which
proved to be in the plumage o f winter, at which season the forehead and crown are pure white, instead
o f the black which is characteristic o f the nuptial and summer dress.
On most o f the sandy parts o f our sea-shores, from the coast of Kent to the Fern Islands, the Sandwich
Tern either did or does now breed, in some places sparingly, in others in large assemblages; it is alike
numerous on our western shores, particularly the coast o f Lancashire. Mr. A. G. More, in his paper “ On
the Distribution o f Birds in Great Britain during the Nesting-season,” published in ‘ The Ibis ’ for 1865,
gives the following as some o f the breeding-places of this species in our islands:—“ Cornwall (Mr. E . H .
JRodd) ; at the mouth o f the Thames (Mr. F. Bond) ; in Lancashire (Rev. H . B . Tristram) ; on the Fern
Islands and the Isle o f Coquet, off Northumberland, and on the coast o f Cumberland. Mr. Robert Gray
writes that a small colony has lately established itself on an island in Loch Lomond; and Sir W. Jardine
tells us that it breeds on the Isle of May and off North Berwick. Further north the birds have been seen
in summer on the Firths o f Tongue and Erribol; but the nest was not discovered.” In the second edition
of Mr. Rodd’s ‘ List o f British Birds ’ he says :— “ Cornish: a few pairs observed in the summer months on
some o f the islands o f Scilly, where they annually breed; found sparingly on the Land’s-end coast.” In
Ireland according to Thompson, it “ is o f occasional occurrence on the coast during summer and autumn,
both in immature and adult plumage. More recent information has led to the belief that it may breed
on the Dublin coast; but, from the limited number o f birds seen at any period, but few, I presume, have
ever bred on the island.”
“ The Sandwich Tern,” says Yarrell, “was first observed and obtained in this country at Sandwich, in 1784,
by Mr. Boys, who sent specimens to Dr. Latham, by whom the particulars respecting it were published in
the sixth volume o f his ‘ General Synopsis,’ p. 356. Attention being thus drawn to this species, it has since
been ascertained to be a regular summer visitor, appearing in spring and departing in autumn, after having
reared the yearly brood.”
Mr. Selby, who had the best opportunities o f observing this species. from one of its principal places of
resort being contiguous to his estate in Northumberland, says:— “ It annually resorts to the Fern Islands,
as well as the Isle o f Coquet, a few miles to the southward. Here a station is selected apart from the
other species, generally on a higher s ite ; and the nests are so close to each other as to render it difficult to
cross the ground without breaking the eggs or injuring the unfledged young. Upon this coast it is called
par excellence ‘ the Tern,’ all the other species passing under the general name o f ‘ Sea-Swallows.’ Its
habits strongly resemble those o f its congeners; and it subsists upon similar kinds o f fish, the sand-Iaunce