STERNULA MINUTA.
Little Tern.

Sterna minuta, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 228.

—— minor, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. p. 206, pl oy tomo

—— bicolor, Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat., tom. i. no. 110.

—— metopoleucos, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 608.

Sternula fissipes, pomarina, et Danica, Brehm, Handb. Naturg. aller Vég. Deutsch!
danubialis et meridionalis, Brehm (Bonap.).
minuta, Bonap. Rev. Crit. sur Degl. Orn. Europ., p. 199.

.» pp. 790, 791.

 

How joyous are the emotions of the sailor when, towards the end of a long voyage, he sees the Little Tern
flapping its long wings over the surface, or descending headlong into the ocean. Light-hearted is he now;
for he knows that this aérial sprite is a never-failing indication that the shore is near at hand, and that in
a few hours he may get a short relief from his monotonous sea-life. Not only to the sailor, however, but to
every one who loves the salt breeze, and seeks a change by resorting to the sea-shore, is this little bird an
object of interest, its buoyant flight, actions, and whole economy being totally different from those of
land-birds : the delicacy of its colouring also, harmonizing as it does with the blue vault of heaven under
which it flies, the orange-red of its feet, and its structure beautifully adapted to the end for which it was
formed, all excite feelings of pleasure and admiration.

 

 

This lovely Tern is one of the smallest species of a family the members of which are so universally dis-
tributed that there is no portion of the world, except perhaps its extreme northern and southern regions,
where one or other of them is not to be found. This maritime and fluviatile family of birds comprises
so many different forms that they must of necessity be divided into many genera. Some are remarkable for

their wing-powers, others for their great size; others, again, are as diminutive as the present species ; and

 

some offer a seeming alliance to the Petrels, as the members of the genus 4rous. All the members of
each of these various subdivisions assimilate most closely in their mode of life and general economy ; and
thus the habits of the little Sternula Nereis of Australia are precisely similar to those of its antipodal
representative, the S. ménuta, whose history I now proceed with.
The Little Tern, which is a summer visitant to our islands, is dispersed at that season along the whole of
: our coasts from Sussex to the Orkneys, from Suffolk to the most western part of Ireland, and, moreover,
breeds in every suitable situation—that is, wherever the bed of shingle, the strand, or the sandy sea-shore

 

is not overrun by its greatest enemy, the thoughtless boy with his fowling-piece, who so ey shoots
these little mariners from sheer wantonness and mischief. ‘Thoughtless beyond measure, cruel in the extreme,
are those who destroy this lovely bird with no other object—cruel, because the pain does not eat with the
death of the victim; the young, deprived of their parents, are left ee and die on the See ne
collector of eggs, when he exercises proper discretion, has, to a eertaim ose an excuse; for a little grief
on the part of the birds is the only suffering ; but the wanton destruction which I have seen dealt out to
these pretty objects, I, for one, heartily deprecate.

The Little Tern comes to us in May, and after spending here the three or four following months, departs
with its brood to the neighbouring seas, fishing all round our coasts, sometimes in the Shela bays, at
others out in the open seas, but always within soundings. In all ie temperate parts of Europe it oe i
same, the seas also which wash the shores of Africa, those of India, Mallet and China eee within
these limits at least, the bird is found at one season or the other. Sensitive be cold, it seeks warm and
congenial climes in winter, and retires to more ae latitudes as he Oe ie We a ne
consists of the fry of fishes and crustaceans, all of which are obtained Oe visit to the bs ing-
tunity it affords of watching its actions, forms one of the most pleasant

 

ac is species, with the oppor
place of this species, v Car ae 2. a i 7 :
- times spent by the ornithologist. The birds unite in little colonies, and, like the Common Tern, incubate
, Their two eggs are placed in the midst of the shingle, being deposited in a little
55 ; sien x 0 >

afew bits of shells arranged neatly around. During the period ot

r the surface of the shore, while others are passing

near each other.
depression, without a nest other than
incubation the old birds may be seen dotted about ove hae es.
overhead uttering their peculiar wailing cry. Sometimes these places, like that o grez g aoe
Dungeness are interspersed with the flowering stonecrop and foxglove, while others are bare and leve
| | i it is di ros OF wly fledged young.

sands, where, from the similarity in colour, it 1s difficult to detect the eggs or the newly edged young. :

A : I 7 ‘th the other Terns, this species undergoes a seasonal change, which is principally

s the case with ,

 ; summer becoming restricted to the hinder part of the

 

 

 

apparent in the black which covers the crown 1n ae
: < IV er.
head, and the white on the forehead more extensive, In win