Of course, it was of no use attempting to test this statement by comparing the colour of a young bird lying beside an unhatched ^}^^y because the one afforded no manner of clue to the other, on account of the fact that it is possible to find two eggs in a Tern's nest as unlike each other as any two in a thousand. I therefore only took the evidence of such chicks as I could compare with the shells they had just quitted, or woi-e in the act of emerging from, and must confess that they ex-hibited a striking general resemblance of coloration.

Many of these young ones were very difficult to see, on account of their wonderful harmonisation with the sand ujion which they lay strc^tched t)iit flat as they could make themselves. In ordei* to show the })rotective value of their coloration, I got

tlu,^my brother to make the studies {q)|)earing on op})Osite })age. Ol" course, they are little more than suggestive, on account of the localisation in a small

YOUNG SANDWICH TERN ON SAND.

YOUNG SANDWICH TERN ON BLACK CLOTH.

'254 WITH NATURE AND A VAMKllA.

picture and tlic limitations of reproduction in black and white. The young Tern upon tlu^ sand is really far more conspicuous in the illustration than in a natural state, and it must be borne in mind that, in looking at a small picture, the eye is not confused by a variety of fine shades of colour or loss of that (piick and certain perception })roduced by wandering over an infinite number of objects of similar size, shape, and appearance, to l^e met with on a rough, shingle-covered beach.

What puzzles me greatly about })rotective coloration is that, whilst these young l)irds instinctively recognise its value, some of their parents do and others do not appear to do so. As a rule, Sandwich Tern's eggs harmonise closely with their surroundings, and even the experienced field naturalist has to exercise a great deal of care to avoid treading upon a clutch when visiting a breeding station. A friend of mine told me a few years back that he had once visited a colony of these birds on an island where the natural breeding accommodation was so limited that many of them had conveyed patches of pebbles on to the grass, and laid their eggs thereon. We both recognised this as a wonderful instance of a knowledge of the value of protective coloration; but I must confess that last sununer at the Fame Islands my faith in the wisdom of these birds received a rude shock when I met with five or six clutches of eggs lying-most consi)icuously on smidl circular ])atches of broken mussel.shells, the dark blue of which cou-trasted violently with the golden grey of tlu^ sand.

I saw a k^andwich TeriTs nest with four (\giis In it, and Watcher Patterson told me that lie had once found an Ai-ctic TeriTs nest containing five doubtless the ])rodnction of two l)irds.—

TERNS AT HOME.

to see and hear a We had the good fortune Roseate Tern two or three times over. Its note is very similar to that of a Corncrake in harshness, and easily distinguished from th(jso of the other Terns. I tried to watch the bird to the ground, both with my binoculars and with the unaided eye, thinking I might then be able to trace it to its eggs, ir it had any, l)ut in vain; it was always lost in the ever-changing, swooping, swirl insr thronff of white-winged creatures, and I was obliged to give up the quest.

On the Inner Wide Opens a great number of Common and Arctic Terns breed, and within two or three feet of their egga we found clutches belonging to Oyster -catchers and Ringed Plover. Whilst on this island, I narrowly escaped having my cap knocked off my head by an angry Tern, which swept down upon me again and again with a loud scream, because I approached its nest, situated amongst some sea campion, too closely.

When fishing for their prey Terns always plunge into the sea head to wind. I noticed that upon arriving at their breeding station, if they were unable to discover their own offspring amongst the crowd, running about like a flock of miniature^ sheep, they rose again and flew away with the tit-bit they had brought in their Ijills. Curiously enouo-h, whilst sittin": at the end of St. Cuthbert's little church, I could always see more birds flying away from tin* Tern-inhabited islands with food in their bills than to them. The watchei-s told me that tlu^y had oftcMi l)een struck by the same strange fact, and concluded that the Ijirds were flying away to escape robbery by their neigh])()urs, an ever-clamorous ci-owd of which are continually hanging about over the islands.

Tlu' defenceless clmracter of all the Terns makes their eg-gs and young easy prey for any winged depredator that happens to come along-. Jackdaws fly over from the mainland to harass them, and sometimes even levy toll upon the nests of the Lesser Black Backs and Herring- Gulls, whose eg'gs they finish devouring- on the top

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS.

of St. Cuthbert's Tower. This necessitates a periodical inspection of the little bit of flat roof by the watchers, who have to depend upon it for the collection of their fresh water, and therefore cannot afford to have it fouled by offensive matter.

Often our attention would be called across the water by a great clamour and commotion, and, turning our field-glasses in the direction from whence it came, we could see a vast congregation of Terns hovering close over some particular part of their

breeding station in a wild, shrieking- mass. Presently a Lesser Black-backed Gull would rise and take his departure, followed by a host of angry but quite helpless Terns. Peregrine Falcons occasionally pay the Fame Islands a visit, and fly away with whatever they desire without let or hindrance. The mortality amongst sea-birds of all kinds, reckoning the loss of eggs and young ones, from purely natural causes alone, must be very great in the course of a season. We saw a great number of young Terns lying dead everywhere upon their islands, and Watcher Darling told us that two years ago very few Arctic or Connnon Terns got away. He picked up several dead ones with sand-eels in their bills, and concluded that there was no small fry for them, and that the eels, although the natural diet of Sandwich Terns, were too large for the young of the smaller species to swallow.

There are now a great number of Eiders on the Fames. I counted thirty-four l)arren ducks one day all together in a little bay, and seventeen drakes in another. As soon as the females begin to sit the males leave them, and the glories of their breeding plumage connnence to fade. Some of the ducks are wonderfully tame whilst brooding, and will allow themselves to be stroked upon the back without appearing in the least disturbed by the attentions of the intruder. The Duck which made her nest for so many years in succession at the foot of St. Cuthbert's Tower, and was recognisable by a peculiar white spot on (he l)ack of her head, did not })ut in an appearance this year, and the watchers concluded that she had been shot by some gunner during the winter. I saw one nest with eight eggs in it, and Darling informed me iliat he

EIDER DUCK ON NEST.

had known birds succeed in hatching off clutches of from two to ten, and had seen, during his long experience, one nest containing fourteen and another nineteen eggs, but in neither case were any duck-linofs brouo-ht off. There can be but little doubt that in these last cases two or more females must have contributed. I found two nests one day within a foot of each other. One of them had seven stale eo^o-s in it covered with sodden down.

WILD DUCK ON NEST.

and the other the remaining shells of a successful hatch off. Although I have found and examined a goodly number of Eider Ducks' nests, T have never }'et met with one which could beat the Wihl Duck at lining one, in ])()int of (quantity of down employed. The above illustration of a Wild Duck on her nest was ()l)taincd (^lose to London, and sliows to what a remarkable extent the bird must have denuded her undcr-parts. Wiien leaving the nest of her own accord, this down is carefully folded over the ^'^'^^•, and, whether

it is intended to or not, serves the useful twofold purpose of preventing- an undue escape of heat and lessening the chances of discovery by a prowling enemy. Young Eiders are the hardiest little birds in their own element I have ever seen. They will dash into a boilin£»- sea from almost any height a

YOUNG EIDER DUCK.

day or two after they have made their advent into the world. One rough day we went out to try to photograph the breakers as they tumbled in upon the rocks at the northern end of the Fame. After making one or two studies we walked round the north-west corner of the island, and suddenly came upon an Eider Duck and seven small young ones. We stopped, with the intention of withdrawing, but as. the old bird did not seem in the least

262

WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA.

disconcerted by our presence, we stood still and watched. She walked deliberately to the edge of the cliff, which could not have been less than twenty feet deep, and without the slightest hesitation went over into the sea. To our astonishment, her little ducklings followed her into the turmoil of waters one by one in the most unconcerned fashion. In less than a minute she was gallantly breasting the big seas, with her offspring touching her tail and each other so closely that the whole family might easily have been covered by an ordinary pocket-handkerchief.

We were anxious to obtain a photograph of an Eider duckling, but found it quite impossible to get near enough to one for such a purpose.

One day, however, a very strange thing happened. We were photographing the watchers and their boat in a little sandy bay, when the very fowl we wanted walked right up to us with the most uncanny deliberation and fearlessness. Whether St. Cuthbert—with whom, I believe, the fowls of the air were on very good terms whilst he lived on the island—sent it, or the bird mistook one of us for him, I cannot tell; but the strange incident filled us all with wonder.

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