The eggs are laid on the bare sand or shingle without any attempt at a nest; they are usually three in number and of a pale stone colour spotted with grey and brown. The note is a sharp “kik.”
In summer the head and nape are black, except for the forehead, which is white. Upper parts grey, tail and under parts white. Bill yellow with a black tip. Legs orange.
The young have the head white, streaked with blackish brown, mantle grey with buffish tips, under parts white. In their first autumn plumage they are very similar to the young of the Sandwich Tern, the feathers of the back being marked with black, brown, and white. Length 9 in.; wing 6·75 in.
THE SOOTY TERN
Sterna fuliginosa, J. F. Gmelin
Stragglers of this tropical species have on two or three occasions been met with on our coasts.
There is a white band across the forehead, which extends backwards over the eye on each side; rest of the upper parts deep sooty black; under parts white; outer web of outer tail feathers white. Bill and legs black. Length 17 in.; bill 2·1 in.; tail 7·5 in.; wing 11·75 in.
THE NODDY
Anous stolidus (Linnæus)
Like the former, this is a tropical species, which has on two occasions wandered to our shores.
The general colour is a dark chocolate brown all over except for the head, forehead, and crown, which are lavender grey. Length 16 in.; wing 10·5 in.