is more direct and less wavering than that of the
Common or the Little Tern.
We do not often hear of the occurrence of the present
species at any great distance from salt water, but I have
a very fine pair of adult birds stuffed, that were killed
on the Isis in Port Meadow, close to Oxford, about
1853. This is the only species of Tern that I have ever
kept or attempted to keep in captivity; at the present
moment (August 21, 1894) I have two fine young birds
that I received from the north of England on June 27.
They refused to eat for the first few days after their
arrival at Lilford, and had to be forcibly crammed, but
they now feed greedily upon small fishes or pieces of
large ones; they are remarkably tame, and very peaceable
with the many other species that inhabit the same
compartment of our aviary. The elongated feathers of
the occipital crest are already very noticeable in these
youngsters. Egg-collectors and dealers have done their
utmost to exterminate this beautiful bird in our country,
and as it does not leave our coasts till after the end of
close-time, it is, of course, liable to slaughter by the
loafers wdio supply " wings" for plumiferous human
females.