within a few yards of us, whilst others hawked about
unconcernedly after flying insects, or dipped for the
leeches and water-beetles that swarmed amongst the
weeds. I could discover no difference between the
habits of this bird and those of the Black Tern, which
was perhaps the more numerous of the two species in
the locality of which 1 am treating, but there is a
slight difference in the note, that of the present, bird
being somewhat harsher and more prolonged than that
of the other. The nests of the Whiskered Tern, however,
were generally composed of various water-plants
only, and were often of considerable bulk, whilst those
of the Black Tern were much slighter, flatter, and
generally had some broken reed-stems, pieces of rushes,
and occasionally some twigs as a foundation.
The eggs of the Whiskered Tern are three in complement,
and are easily to be distinguished from those
of any other European Tern by their elongated shape
and invariable pale, but decided green ground-colour.
In Spain this Tern is a summer migrant, arriving
towards the end of April, and departing in July or
early in August; but I frequently met with it about
the shores of the Ionian Sea in late autumn and winter.
From the accounts of authors it appears that the range
of the Whiskered Tern extends from the extreme west
of Africa and Europe, with certain breaks of continuity,
to China and the Philippines. It breeds abundantly in
the marshes of North Africa; but I never met with it
in the western basin of the Mediterranean.