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T H E R O S E A T E T E R N.
STERNA DOUGALLII, MONT.
PLATE CCXL. ADULT.
ON the 28th of April 1832, it was my lot to be on the beautiful rocky
islet named Indian Key, where I spent a few hours of the night in unsuccessful
attempts to procure repose, which was effectually banished by
the consciousness of my being in a portion of the country not yet examined
by any industrious student of nature, and in which I expected to
find much that would prove interesting. The rain fell in torrents, and
the rattling of the large drops on the shingles of the veranda in which my
hammock had been slung, together with the dullness of the air, contributed
to keep me awake. Finding it useless to remain in bed, I roused
my companions; it was just four o'clock, and in a few minutes all the
people in the house were up, and breakfast preparing. Before six the
rain abated, and as I was determined not to lose a day, the guns were
mustered, we made our way to the boats, and pushed off" through a gentle
shower in quest of unknown birds ! In about an hour the rain ceased, the
sky gradually cleared, and the sun soon dried our clothes. About this
time we observed a great number of Terns on a sand bar, which we approached.
The birds were not shy, so that we obtained an opportunity
of firing two guns at them, when we leaped out, and on wading to the
shore picked up thirty-eight Roseate Terns and several of another species.
Beautiful, indeed, are Terns of every kind, but the Roseate excels the
rest, if not in form, yet in the lovely hue of its breast. I had never seen
a bird of this species before, and as the unscathed hundreds arose and
danced as it were in the air, I thought them the Humming Birds of the
sea, so light and graceful were their movements. Now they flocked together
and hovered over us, again with a sudden dash they plunged towards
us in anger; even their cries of wrath sounded musical, and although
I had carried destruction among them, I felt delighted. As I
have just said, I had not before seen a Roseate Tern, not even the skin
of one stuffed with tow ; the species was not in the Synopsis of my friend
BoxArARTE, and now I had my cap filled to the brim with specimens.
ROSEATE TERN. 297
You may rest assured that I took precious care of those which I had procured,
but not another individual was robbed of life on that excursion.
The other Terns were as new to me. I observed the form of their black
bill and feet, the yellow tip of the former, and wrapped them up with
care, while I tried to recollect the name they bore in books. To have
found hundreds of the Roseate Tern in the Floridas, while I had anxious
but slender hopes of meeting it on the coast of Labrador, was to me
quite astonishing. So it was, however, and I determined to ransack every
key and sand-beach, to try to find its breeding-ground. Nor were my
desires ungratified.
The Roseate Tern spends the breeding season along the southern
shores of the Floridas in considerable numbers. At different times in the
course of nearly three months which I spent among the keys, I saw flocks
of twenty, thirty, or more pairs, breeding on small detached rocky islands,
scantily furnished with grass, and in the company of hundreds of Sandwich
Terns. The two species appeared to agree well together, and their
nests were intermingled. The full number of eggs of the present species
is three. They differ considerably in size and markings; their average
length, however, is an inch and three quarters, their breadth an inch and
one-eighth ; they are of a longish oval shape, rather narrowed at the
small end, of a dull buff or clay colour, sparingly sprinkled and spotted
with different tints of umber and light purple. They were deposited on
the bare rocks, among the roots of the grasses, and left in fair weather to
the heat of the sun. Like those of the Common Tern and other species,
they are delicious eating. The eggs of the Sandwich Tern were more
attended to during the day, but toward night both species sat on their
eggs. I did not see any of the young, but procured a good number of'
those of the preceding year, which kept apart from the old birds, but had
in all respects the same habits.
The Roseate Tern is at all times a noisy, restless bird ; and on approaching
its breeding place, it incessantly emits its sharp shrill cries, resembling
the syllable cralc. Its flight is unsteady and flickering, like that
of the Arctic or Lesser Terns, but rather more buoyant and graceful.
They would dash at us and be off again with astonishing quickness,
making great use of their tail on such occasions. While in search of prey,
they carry the bill in the manner of the Common Tern, that is perpendicularly
downward, plunge like a shot, with wings nearly closed, so as
to immerse part of the body, and immediately reascend. They were seen