Breeds on low islands and in suitable places along the coast, chiefly in the northern parts of our kingdom. I have found most nests amongst the shingle. As a rule, no materials whatever are used. The eggs are two or three, varying from greyish-buff to buffish-brown (I have seen them occasionally pale blue), spotted and blotched with blackish-brown and underlying pale grey. The eggs of this bird run slightly smaller than those of the Common Tern.
THE COMMON TERN.
The situation, nest, and eggs of this bird differ but little from those of the Arctic Tern, except that the nest is often farther away from the water's edge, and generally lined with bits of withered grass and weed. The bird is a more abundant breeder, however, round the English coast, and less numerous in Scotland. Its eggs run slightly larger, are not so boldly marked, and the ground colour is less prone to an olive tinge.
THE LESSER TERN.
One result of the recently-passed law for the better protection of Wild Birds ought to be the stoppage of the decrease of this beautiful little Tern's numbers. It breeds in suitable localities round our coast, depositing its eggs on the shingle without making any nest at all. These number two, three, and occasionally four, similar in coloration to those of the Common and Arctic Terns, but smaller in size.
