BLACK-HEADED GULL
In most inland districts frequented by this Gull (the Larus ridibundus of Linnæus) it is known as the “Peewit,” the “Peewit Gull,” or the “Laughing Gull.” It is not only one of the most widely distributed but one of the best known of our sea birds. And yet to describe the Black-headed Gull as a “sea” bird in the sense we have hitherto used the term is, to say the least, somewhat misleading. This species belongs to a small group which might more appropriately be termed “marsh” Gulls. It is almost as much seen in certain inland localities as it is in marine ones; whilst in many of its habits it bears a close resemblance to the Rook – feeding on the pastures, following the plough, and perching regularly in trees. During spring and summer many of these Gulls resort to inland haunts to breed – as for instance at Scoulton Mere in Norfolk, Twigmoor in Lincolnshire, and Aqualate Mere in Staffordshire – and from these centres visit the surrounding country for miles, in quest of food. Slob-lands and low muddy coasts are favourite haunts of this Gull, but during the non-breeding season it may be met with on almost all parts of the coast. In winter it often wanders up the larger tidal rivers for miles; and the Gulls that visited the Thames in such abundance during recent winters, were principally of this species, doubtless from Norfolk and Essex. Many of these Gulls appear to pass our southern coasts, especially in spring, and I have remarked them again in great plenty during the sprat season in late autumn. I may in addition state that this migration has been observed along the coast of South Devon, the nearest breeding station being near Poole in Dorset. The birds linger about Tor Bay in spring until, in many cases, the full breeding plumage – the sooty-brown head – is assumed.
Owing to the great diversity of its haunts the Black-headed Gull is almost omnivorous in its diet. Inland it feeds on grubs – especially wire-worms – insects, worms, fresh-water fish, and newly sown grain, as I have often ascertained by dissection; on the sea coast it subsists on fish, crustaceans, and various odds and ends obtained about harbours or vessels. It seeks its food both whilst swimming about the water, fluttering above it, or when walking on the shore. This Gull is much more Tern-like in its habits than the larger species we have already dealt with. Of its services to the agriculturist there can be no question; it is just as useful on the land as the Rook, without that bird’s few little pilfering ways.
The Black-headed Gull is an inland breeding species, and resorts to marshes, wet moors, and meres, at varying distances from the sea. Sometimes these breeding-places are in fairly well-timbered districts, and often surrounded by trees and bushes. This Gull, too, is remarkably gregarious during the breeding season, and some of its colonies are very extensive, consisting of many thousands of pairs. The “gulleries” are visited for nesting purposes in March or April, and as the birds return to the same spots year after year, they probably pair for life. Nesting begins in April. Most of the nests are made upon the ground in rush tufts, in hassocks of coarse grass and sedge, amongst reeds in shallow water, on masses of the previous year’s decayed aquatic vegetation, or on the flat, spongy, moss-covered ground. Odd nests are occasionally made in the trees and bushes, or even on boat-houses. Many of the nests can only be described as mere rounded hollows in the cushions of grass or sedge; the more elaborate structures are usually in the wettest situations, and these latter are often added to as incubation advances, either to replace the wear and tear from the incessant wash of the water, or to provide a sufficiently large platform on which the young may rest. The nests are made of bits of reed and rush, coarse grass, flags, and scraps of moss, lined with finer materials of similar description. The eggs of this Gull are usually three in number, sometimes four. They are subject to much variation, ranging from rich brown to pale bluish-green in ground colour, spotted, blotched, blurred, and streaked with several shades of brown and gray. Large numbers of these eggs are gathered for culinary purposes, the crop being systematically taken, and the birds always allowed eventually to sit upon their final clutch. Many of these eggs are passed off for those of the Peewit by unscrupulous dealers, notably in Leadenhall market. Few scenes in the bird world are prettier than a colony of Black-headed Gulls. When disturbed at their nests the birds rise in fluttering crowds, drifting noisily to and fro, anxious for the safety of their eggs or helpless young. As is the invariable rule with birds that continue to replace their taken eggs, but one brood is reared in the season.
THE SKUAS
These birds may be readily distinguished, even when on the wing, by the cuneiform or wedge-shaped tail, and by the dark upper plumage. The bill is also much stouter and hooked at the point, whilst the claws are sharp and curved. Skuas are only exceptionally seen by the ordinary visitor to the sea-side. In the first place, they only breed in our islands in the extreme north or west of Scotland, and in the second place they are decidedly oceanic in their habits, after the nesting season is passed. Occasionally Skuas may be seen on migration, especially in autumn, and along our eastern and southern seaboard; occasionally they are driven shorewards by protracted stormy weather, and under these circumstances have frequently been known to visit inland localities. Odd birds are generally seen, perhaps a party of half a dozen, but on very exceptional occasions large flocks make their appearance – witness the thousands of Pomarine Skuas that visited the coast of Yorkshire during the autumns of the years 1879 and 1880.
The Skuas are birds of remarkably powerful flight, displaying marvellous command over themselves in the air, turning and twisting with great speed. These birds are the Raptors of the sea; a terror to the Gulls and Terns; merciless robbers of the hard-won spoil of more weakly species; destroyers even of the eggs and helpless young of other sea birds. All the four species of northern Skuas are visitors to the British Seas, but only two of them are indigenous to our islands. The first of these to be noticed here is the Great Skua, Stercorarius catarrhactes, one of the most local of British birds during the breeding season, as its only known nesting places in our area are on Unst and Foula, two small islands of the Shetland Group. Except during the breeding season, the Great Skua is mostly oceanic in its habitat, wandering long distances from land in quest of prey, attending vessels and fishing fleets, only drawing landwards by stress of weather or unusual abundance of food. This Skua is practically omnivorous. During its summer sojourn near and on the land it repeatedly raids the colonies of other sea fowl, to prey upon exposed eggs or unguarded young; it captures the smaller Gulls, notably the Kittiwake: it also picks up any stranded fish or other carrion; and is constantly on the watch to chase any Gull or Tern that catches a fish, following the poor bird with fatal persistency until, terror stricken, it disgorges its food, which is promptly seized by the voracious Skua. The call note of this Skua is very similar to that of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but when under the excitement of chasing other birds, or of seeking to guard its own domain, the bird utters a loud cry which is likened by many observers to the word skua or skui.
The Great Skua resorts to its breeding grounds in April, and the eggs are laid in May. As it returns yearly to the same places, it very possibly pairs for life. The nests are made upon the ground of the high moorlands, amongst the heath and grass, and are mere hollows in the moss, sometimes lined with a little dry grass. The eggs of this Skua are two in number, and vary from pale buff to dark olive-brown in ground colour, sparingly spotted and speckled with dark brown and grayish-brown. These eggs are large in size, and very closely resemble those of the Herring Gull. But one brood is reared in the year, and by the end of August the young birds and their parents desert the nesting colony, and adopt their pelagic habits. Few birds are so courageous in defence of their nests as the Skua. Even such predaceous creatures as Eagles, Ravens, and dogs are driven off; whilst human intruders are screamed at and approached within a few feet, the birds wrathfully extending their legs as if they would strike, and skimming to and fro in rage. Many tales of this bird’s daring at its nesting places are current in Shetland, where it is known almost universally as the “Bonxie.”
Our second species is Richardson’s Skua, the Stercorarius richardsoni of some systematists, the S. crepidatus of others. Although not quite so local as the preceding species, its breeding area is remarkably restricted, so far as the British Islands are concerned. It breeds on the Hebrides, in Caithness and Sutherlandshire, and on the Orkneys and Shetlands. Richardson’s Skua is a more gregarious species than its larger relative, but its habits generally are much the same. It is, for its size, equally daring and rapacious; is also remarkable for its powers of flight; but differs from the Great Skua in being more gregarious. Richardson’s Skua is for the most part a summer migrant to the British Islands, and numbers of birds pass along our coasts in spring to their northern breeding-grounds. It is only during the seasons of passage that the visitor to our southern coasts may hope to fall in with this bird, and even then it does not approach the land much. Like the other Skuas, the present species is a relentless robber of the Gulls and Terns, chasing them up and down until they disgorge their fish, and repeating the process at every opportunity. Eggs, young birds, and carrion, are also eaten. It is said to capture weakly birds, but I do not think it is so much addicted to this Hawk-like habit as the preceding species. During summer insects and ground fruits are eaten, whilst it has been known to take worms and molluscs. The note of this Skua is described either as a plaintive mee or kyow, and when in chase of a bird it has been likened to the syllable yah, oft repeated.
Richardson’s Skua reaches its breeding-grounds in the British Islands early in May. Its haunts at this season are open moors, at no great distance from the sea. Although social at its breeding-places, it can scarcely be described as gregarious, and the nests are usually scattered up and down the moorland area. This Skua appears to pair annually, and the nest, always made upon the ground, is merely a hollow, carelessly lined with a little dry herbage, and sometimes nothing but a shallow cavity in the moss. The eggs, normally, are two, but sometimes three have been found, and occasionally but one. They range from olive to brown in ground colour, spotted and speckled with darker brown and grayish brown. Incubation is performed by the female, and lasts about a month. At its breeding-places Richardson’s Skua is very demonstrative, and often reveals the situation of the nest by its anxious movements above the intruder’s head. After the young are reared the moors are deserted, and for the remainder of the year this Skua is decidedly pelagic in its habits and haunts.
We now pass to the Terns. These pretty graceful birds – widely known as “Sea Swallows” – differ in many respects from the Gulls and Skuas. They most closely resemble the former in general appearance, but may be easily distinguished by their slender form, small size, and forked tail. Of the dozen species that have been regarded as “British,” no less than five breed within the limits of our islands. The Terns are far more locally distributed than the Gulls. Many miles of coast may be traversed without one ever seeing a Tern. They are all migratory birds with us, visiting Britain in summer to breed, and retiring south again in autumn. It is only during the season of passage, therefore, that they are at all widely dispersed, for the remainder of their sojourn on our coasts is spent at or in the near vicinity of their breeding-stations. The five indigenous British species follow.
SANDWICH TERN
This fine species – the Sterna cantiaca of Gmelin, and the S. sandvicensis of Latham – is not only the largest of the indigenous British Terns, but one of the rarest. It was formerly much more widely dispersed along our coasts, but persecution has thinned its numbers, and the seaside holiday-maker has banished it from many of its old-time haunts. Special interest attaches to this bird, because it is one of the very few species that have been first made known to science from examples obtained in the British Islands. It was first discovered in 1784, at Sandwich, on the coast of Kent, and described by Latham three years later. Alas! no longer does this beautiful Tern breed in its early haunts on the Kentish coast; it has disappeared from there, as it has from many another locality, without hope of return. The most important breeding-place of this Tern, and certainly the most accessible to the majority of observers, is situated on the famous Farne Islands; even here the bird is much less common than it used to be. There are small colonies on Walney Island, in Cumberland, in the Solway district, on Loch Lomond, in the Firth of Tay, and on the coast of Elgin. Its only known breeding-station in Ireland is in Co. Mayo.
The Sandwich Tern reaches the British coasts in April or early in May. But little is seen of this species whilst on passage, for it evidently keeps some distance from shore as a rule, or passes quickly and unobserved. The smaller Terns, for instance, are commonly seen on the coast of South Devonshire in Spring and Autumn, but I cannot recall a single strong migration of the present species in that locality. This Tern is seldom or never seen at any distance from the sea. Most of its waking time is spent in the air, flying about with easy, graceful motion, in quest of its finny prey. The Sandwich Tern, however, is nothing near so graceful looking on the wing as its smaller relatives, the heavier body, broader wings, and much less acutely forked tail giving it a heavier, more cumbersome appearance. Most of its food is obtained whilst it hovers above the sea. The way in which all the Terns feed is very pretty. They poise and hover above their finny victims, and every now and then dart downwards like a stone into the water and capture a fish, fluttering up again, or remaining for a moment to swallow their capture. A flock of Terns (of any species) fishing is one of the prettiest sights imaginable. In addition to small fish the Sandwich Tern devours crustaceans of various kinds, whilst its young are fed largely upon sand-lice and beetles. The Terns are much cleaner feeders than the Gulls, and I have never known them touch carrion or refuse. I have, however, seen them pounce down upon scraps of food thrown from a vessel. The usual call-note of the Sandwich Tern is a somewhat shrill scream.
This Tern probably pairs for life, and returns regularly every season to its old-accustomed haunts to breed. These are by preference low, rocky, or sandy islands, covered with marine herbage, varied with barer patches, and with beaches of rough shingle. Similar conditions are sought on the mainland, in a secluded spot on the coast, but an island is always preferred. The Sandwich Tern is gregarious, but its colonies, with one exception, in our islands are nowhere very extensive. This one exception is at the Farne Islands, where it has been computed the birds number upwards of a thousand pairs. As the nesting-places are visited very regularly year by year this Tern probably pairs for life. I have noticed, however, that the birds shift their actual breeding ground from time to time, using several spots in succession. One year they will nest here, another year there, on the same small island perhaps, but sometimes removing en masse to another one of the group. The nests are always placed upon the ground, either amongst the sand shingle and drifted debris, a short distance from high water mark, or amongst the sea campion, thrift, and coarse grass further inland; sometimes a bare mound on the highest part of the island is selected. Many nests are made within a small area, sometimes so close together as to render walking amongst them without treading on their contents a difficult matter. The nests are slight enough, mere hollows lined with a few bits of withered herbage, and in some cases even this simple provision is neglected. The eggs, which are laid from about the middle of May to the middle of June, are generally two in number, but sometimes three. These vary from creamy-white to rich buff in ground colour, handsomely blotched and spotted with various shades of brown and gray. During the hot June days the eggs seem to require little incubation, but there are always plenty of birds about the spot, ready to rise fluttering and screaming into the air when their breeding grounds are invaded by man. But one brood is reared in the season, yet if the first clutches of eggs be lost they will be replaced.
COMMON TERN
This Tern, known as the Sterna hirundo of Linnæus, by most British ornithologists, although there can be little doubt that the great Swedish naturalist applied the term indiscriminately to this and the Arctic Tern, is one of the best known British species, especially round the English and Welsh coasts. It becomes rarer in Scotland, where it is largely replaced by the Arctic Tern. The Common Tern, distinguished by its white underparts from the Arctic Tern, is migratory and arrives on the British coasts towards the end of April, retiring south in Autumn. Its favourite haunts during the summer are the various groups of low rocky islands, and the more secluded portions of the coast where sandbanks and shingle occur. Save on passage, this Tern is seldom seen far from the vicinity of its nest colony. The flight of the Common Tern is exceedingly buoyant and graceful, the long slender wings and acutely forked tail assisting greatly in the general effect. Like the Swallows the tarsus of the Terns is remarkably short, so that on the ground the birds seem awkward, and rarely attempt to walk far; on the sea, however, they are quite at home and swim well. There are few prettier sights along the shore than a flock of Terns busy in quest of food. Where the beach is rocky, and the water somewhat deep inshore, the birds may be watched with ease. In a serried throng they flutter to and fro; ever and anon a bird falls down like a fragment of white glittering marble into the sea with a loud splash, and in a moment rises again with its finny prey. Bird after bird keeps dropping so; now and then a bird remains swimming on the water; now and then two birds chase each other in rapid flight. And so for miles the Terns will continue to follow the shoal until hunger is satisfied, or the fish retire to greater depths. The food of this species is chiefly composed of small fish, but insects and crustaceans are also devoured. The note of the Common Tern is a shrill krick or kree-ick, most frequently uttered when the bird is flying alarmed over its invaded nesting place.
The Common Tern is rather a late breeder, its eggs not being laid until the end of May or early in June. It breeds in companies of varying size, the suitability of the site being in some measure a determining cause. This Tern is equally capricious in the site selected for the nests; sometimes one spot is chosen, sometimes another; but there can be little doubt that the bird pairs for life, and evinces considerable attachment for its accustomed haunts. I have found almost invariably that the Common Tern habitually lays its eggs farther from the water than the Arctic Tern, and always prefers to conceal them amongst vegetation of some kind. Islands are always preferred to the mainland, doubtless because of their greater safety. We cannot class this bird as an elaborate nest builder, a mere hollow, scantily lined with a little withered grass or weeds, being the only provision. The two or three eggs vary from buff to grayish-brown in ground colour, blotched and spotted with several shades of rich brown and gray. But one brood is reared, and as soon as the young are strong upon the wing, the nesting places are deserted, and the movement south begins.
Terns migrate leisurely in autumn, often remaining a day or so here and there, on and off the coast, and are then seen in localities which they never frequent during summer.
THE ARCTIC TERN
This Tern, widely known to systematists as the Sterna arctica of Temminck, was unaccountably confused with the preceding species, until the German naturalist, Naumann, appears first to have pointed out their specific distinctness. The Arctic Tern is par excellence the Tern of our northern coasts, say from the Farne Islands and Lancashire onwards to the Orkneys and the Shetlands. I am not aware that it breeds anywhere on the English coast between Spurn and the Scilly Islands, but there are a few scattered colonies on the west coast of England and Wales. This pretty Tern may be distinguished from its near ally, the Common Tern (which it closely resembles in size and general appearance), by its grayer under parts and perceptibly longer outermost tail feathers. Like all its congeners, the Arctic Tern is a summer migrant to the British seas and coasts, arriving from the south late in April or early in May. It prefers very similar haunts to those of the preceding species – low rocky islands with sandy or shingly beaches, and with a fair amount of grass and other marine vegetation upon them. It is equally gregarious in its habits, breeding in colonies, and returning regularly to certain districts to rear its young. Its slenderer form, and proportionately longer wings and tail, make it even more elegant looking in the air than its congener. It catches its food in the same Hawk-like or Gannet-like manner, pouncing down into the water and seizing the tiny fish as they swim near the surface. No Tern dives, and it is certainly exceptional for the bird completely to immerse itself; usually it flutters on the surface for a moment, then rises again. Small fish and crustaceans form the principal food of this species. Its note is very similar to that of the preceding Tern – a shrill and monotonous krick, often prolonged into two syllables.
The nesting season of this Tern begins in June, and fresh eggs may be found throughout that month. Rocky islands seem everywhere to be preferred for nesting places, and the same habit of changing the exact hatching ground prevails in this as in the preceding species. The Farne Islands are, or used to be, a great breeding station of the Arctic Tern, and there I have taken great numbers of its eggs. The bird probably pairs for life. It differs somewhat in its nesting arrangements from the Common Tern, inasmuch that it never makes any nest. No lining of any kind is placed in the hollow which contains the eggs, and this hollow is generally selected ready made. Another peculiarity is that the eggs are far more generally laid nearer to the water; and this applies not only to the Farne Islands, but to every breeding place of this Tern that I have visited. The two or three eggs are laid in any little depression in the coarse sand or shingle on the line of drift, or amongst small pebbles, or even on the bare ground or rock. These eggs vary from buff to olive, and even pale bluish-green in ground colour, heavily blotched and spotted, especially at the larger end, with dark brown, paler brown, and gray. They are decidedly smaller than those of the Common Tern, more elongated in shape, and are much more olive in general colour. When disturbed from their eggs the Arctic Terns become very noisy, and rise in fluttering crowds above the sacred spot, continuing to fly to and fro, screaming anxiously until the intruder retires.
ROSEATE TERN
It is with some hesitation that I include this species, the Sterna dougalli of Montagu, in the present work, because if it really does visit our coasts now to breed, it is so exceedingly rare and local, that any ordinary observer of bird life by the sea could scarcely hope to meet with it. It is interesting to remark that the Roseate Tern was first made known to science from a skin that was sent to Montagu, from the Cumbrae Islands, in the Firth of Clyde. It was subsequently found breeding on the Farne Islands by Selby; it formerly bred on the Scilly Islands, as well as on Foulney and Walney; but so far as I can ascertain there is no direct evidence that it breeds at any of these places now. It may be distinguished from the Common Tern by its rosy under plumage; but as this is very apt to fade, a still more infallible distinction, according to Mr. Saunders, is the white inner margin to the primaries.
The Roseate Tern is a very late migrant, not reaching its breeding places until towards the end of May. In its flight and habits generally, it very closely resembles those of the preceding species; but its note is hoarser than that of the Common Tern. The favourite breeding grounds of this Tern appear to be low rocky islets and – so far as our islands are concerned – it is partial to nesting among a larger colony of Arctic or Common Terns. It does not appear to make any nest, but deposits its two or three eggs on the bare ground, usually in a little hollow amongst the shingle. These eggs very closely resemble those of the Common Tern; so closely in fact that no reliable means of distinguishing them can be given.
LESSER TERN
This species (Sterna minuta) is by far the smallest of the Terns that visit the British coasts in summer to breed. It cannot be said to be anywhere common, and its breeding stations are few and far between. Curiously enough, it is not known to breed on that great resort of British sea fowl, the Farne Islands. There can be no doubt that this Tern is slowly becoming rarer, and in view of this fact I do not feel justified in assisting its extermination, by naming a single locality known to me where it now breeds. The bird-loving reader will, I am sure, appreciate this reticence. Small colonies of this pretty Tern are situated here and there round the British coasts, and in one or two more inland localities. The partiality of the Lesser Tern for the coast of the mainland, rather than for islands, as a nesting ground, contributes largely to the decrease in its numbers. It arrives on our coasts in May, and is readily distinguished from all its congeners by its small size. In its habits it is certainly gregarious, but nowhere are its gatherings as extensive as in the other common British species. Like its congeners it is eminently a bird of the air, flying up and down in restless uncertain flight, living almost entirely on the wing during the daytime, only seeking the sands or the sea to sleep or to rest. It may be watched flying along the coast, a short distance from land, in a slow irregular way, every now and then poising for a second, and then dropping into the water with a tiny splash to seize a fish or a crustacean. Its note is not quite so harsh as that of the larger species, and may be described as a shrill pirr, most frequently uttered when its breeding places are invaded. Its food is composed of small fish, insects, sand-lice, and crustaceans, most of which is secured whilst the bird is on the wing.
The Lesser Tern begins breeding in June. Like all the other species it returns unfailingly to certain spots along the coast each summer, and may, therefore, be presumed to pair for life. Its favourite breeding-grounds are extensive stretches of sand, varied with slips and banks of coarser shingle. It makes no nest, not even so much as scratching a hollow for its eggs, but lays them on the bare ground. It is most interesting to remark that this Tern never lays its eggs on the fine sand, but always on the bits of rough beach – where the ground is strewn with little stones, broken shells, and other débris of the shore – where their colour harmonises so closely with surrounding objects that discovery is difficult. The eggs are from two to four in number – I have on two separate occasions taken clutches of the latter – but three may be given as the average. They vary from buff to grayish-brown in colour, blotched and spotted with various shades of darker brown and gray. During the hottest hours of the day the female sits but little upon them, and it is remarkable how quickly these shore birds will rise from their nests at the first sign of impending danger – the alarm doubtless being given by the male bird from the air above. It is a most exceptional thing to see a conspicuously coloured bird rise from its nest in a bare situation; the eggs are generally coloured protectively, and resemble the objects around them; the presence of the showily attired parent would inevitably lead to their discovery. Early in autumn, when the young are strong upon the wing, the return journey to the winter home on the African coast begins, and it is during these migration journeys that the bird is, perhaps, most commonly observed along the British seaboard.
BLACK TERN
Allusion may here, perhaps, be permitted to the Sterna nigra or Hydrochelidon nigra of ornithologists. The Black Tern formerly bred commonly in our marshes and fens, but has long ceased to do so. The “Car Swallow,” as it used to be widely called in the fens, belongs to the group known as Marsh Terns – birds that rarely frequent the sea coast at all, so that its absence from our avi-fauna, although greatly to be deplored, could scarcely be remarked by the observer of marine species alone. The White-winged Black Tern and the Whiskered Tern complete this division, known as “Marsh Terns.” Both these latter are occasional wanderers to the British Islands.