moment for her to settle herself. the bicycle pump was again used, and at the twelfth plunge of the piston the Tern shot upward as though she were blown from the end of the tube! We accepted her action as an unfailing indication that the shutter was properly released and once more splashed quickly through the water to see what we might see; but only an empty nest met our gaze, and we were as ignorant of the fate of the young Terns as we had been in the beginning.
The continued anxiety of the parents. however. encouraged us to continue our efforts to solve the mysterious disappearance of their chicks, and, after several more attempts similar to those just related, we reached the nest just in time to see the two little ones paddling away into the surrounding reeds, like ducklings. This caused us to believe that on each occasion they had returned to the nest only to desert it again as the old bird left them, but it was not until the plates were developed, a month later, that we could really put together the whole story. Its main facts are shown in the pictures which are here reproduced. One pictures the Tern while incubating. A second pictures her brooding her young after one of their enforced baths in the surrounding waters. Comparison of these pictures shows the difference in the poses of the bird during incubation and while brooding.
A third photograph reveals the two little Terns just as they had climbed into the nest after their long swim for safety. Cold they must have been and they are cuddling close together to keep each other warm,—so close indeed that one may be seen to have his arm about his brother’s or sister’s neck.
YOUNG BLACK TERNS IN FLIGHT
July 6, 1901
