GULL-BILLED TEEN.
STERNA ANGLICA, Montagu.
Sterna anglica, Montagu, Orn. Diet., Suppl. (1813) ; Nairn.
x. p. 3 8 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 4 7 6 ; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 5 3 1 ;
Dresser, viii. p. 295.
Sterne-hansel, French; Lach-Meerschwalbe, German;
Charran, Cagara, Golondrina de mar, Spanish.
This species is an occasional and uncommon visitor
to our country, and was first made known by Colonel
Montagu from specimens obtained in Sussex and Kent.
My personal acquaintance with this Tern is confined to
the shores of the Ionian Sea (where I frequently noticed
it in February and March) and to certain localities in
Andalucia, where it breeds in great abundance. In
many of its habits, as well as in certain points of form,
this bird, as the editor of the 4th ed. of ' Yarrell' truly
remarks, approaches the Marsh-Terns more closely than
do any others of the European Sea-Terns. In my own
limited experience I specially noticed that it frequently
takes beetles from dry ground, and captures flying
insects on wing. Its manner of flight, which is comparatively
wavering, and frequently broken by pauses to