GA VIÆ. LA B ID Æ. some,;if not all, were shot, in defiance of the law, by one of
S t er na M Q n i& m , *
THE ROSEATE TERN.
-Sterna- Do4fMilii%ii
THE'RosfeATfi Tsh^was fifs'f^fscoyerefd 011 Wo^smafl^^Sy
islands, ^cMlIsd^^^^ujmbraes, oflclvde,' in 18T2,
by Dr: McDbugall’" of ^Grlaegow,' who u |n £ a gpecimen arT<l
particulars , to ‘ Oolonel^Montagu, from wEioJrs a %gu||Parid
d«scriptiob’wereJmsert^^^^^^Supplemenfato'liis/ 6rnitlio'-
Dictionary. Some y^s^agO'Sfe'iby found a‘numerous
cdMay deeding on the FarneIslands, B^t lhat^loca|ity bad
b e ^ 'nearly abanddfiea ror !a"ldpg timej?un)iir in ll^Q^several
pairs reiurped’ tdfheir j>Bl baunl^n'^e^monthbf’May,'when
* StemarBojiggXliJ, ^Montagu, Supjj. g g a Diet, Thig',species has mM
unfrequently beep dSi^tiated St ■pitrafiysea, Brunnicb^ hjcb one pbpViii «fcaEe
the trouble of referring'to5® pff auftoBg description', will *at'ln?C^s|e that ffe^was
entirely nnacqpaint,edf with the Roseate, ainfL alluded to, the Arctic Tern. '
the Trinity lighthouse keepers, who sent the specimens in
the flesh to a collector in Birmingham. On the west coast
it formerly bred in the Scilly ‘ Islands ; Mr. John Hancock
found it nesting some years, ago on Foulney Island, and Mr.
Harting and the' Editor observed it” in May; 1864 and 1865,:
on the neighbouring Walneÿ Island on the Lancashire coast:;
It probably nests in a few localities onithe coast of Scotland,
but statements regarding its breeding on Loch Lomond'or
any other lodhs appear td be devoid of foundation. So far as is
known, the Roseate'Tern nestà almost exclusively on islands,
andi generally, bn “those which are remote and storm-bëaten.
Off the coast of ‘ Ireland, where there a®©' many suGh islets*
several breeding-places have been enumerated.by Thompson; ■
but most of these-hâve'since . been abandoned, and" although
the birds have probably migrated to .other, and less disturbed
localities, it would not'be easy-, even if i f were desirable, to
ifardfeate precisely the- places where colbnies may " still be
found. 'The^re is ho doubt that numerically this species has
undergone "donsiderable diminution, not so much owing to
collectors—for genuine British-killed birds are seldom to
be "met withi^-lis to indiscriminate, egging' on the*:' part of
fishermen, and the-bavb’c caused' by the parties; of gunner’s
who used to visit the islands whero this and other Terns
bred, and kill boat-loads of them,-either fo furnikh^plumes
for ladies’ hats, or for the mere^lovê of slaughter/ >; This .Tern
isf, moreover, exceedingly intolerant of interference, and not*
only does it easily abandon a locality when persecuted by-'
man, but it also gives way -before the - encroachments/ of its
heavier and stronger-billed congener "the Common Tern,
S^twniatilvs. Dr. Louis Bureau;/ who has observed the habits
of both species several years on the coast of Brittany,
informed the Editor that he had known three' coloniesof the
Roseate Tern broken up^&*#ris manner. As soon as the
young are able to fly the breeding-places’ are abandoned, and
on migration a straggler is ^occasionally obtained on thea
British coast ; an adult shut near Hunstanton in Norfolk by
Mr. Gk Hunt;-.on /thé ' 12th July, 1880', is "recorded by Lord
VOL. III. 4 A