238
THE NESTING OF THE LITTLE AND COMMON
TERNS, AND OTHER SPECIES, ON THE ESSEX
COAST.
BY WILLIAM E. GLEGG, F.Z.S.
With Two Plates.
ON the 26th May, 1912, accompanied by two friends, I
visited the interesting portion of the Essex coast where
the Little Tern and the Black-headed Gull were said to nest.
For obvious reasons I do not state too definitely the position
of the locality, but shall call it "Colchester Harbour."
We were quite successful in our quest, finding strong nesting
colonies of both species. As we spent three days at the colonies,
sleeping on the ground, we had time to work the area thoroughly.
Little Tern.—The colony was situated on a shingle bank
between the sea-wall and the sea, and at high tide was protected
on one side by a creek which leads across the beach to the sea.
Altogether 23 nests were found, three with one egg, eight with
two eggs, and twelve with three eggs.
Black-headed Gull.—For nesting operations the gulls had
chosen a rush-covered pond of considerable dimensions on the
landward side of the sea-wall. Fifty-nine nests were found con-
taining eggs, 39 had eggs of the brown type, 15 those of the green
type, and five contained both these types. Twenty nests con-
tained one egg, 17 had two eggs, and 22 three eggs. There were
also several new nests which had not been laid in. One nest was
built on a plank which formed a gangway through the marsh.
When found, this nest contained one egg which on the following
day had disappeared, probably the result of the egg-eating pro-
pensities of the gulls.
Ringed Plover.—This species was common. One nest with
four eggs was found in the Little Tern colony.
In the marsh where the gullery was situated four nests of
Moorhen and one of Mallard were found, all with eggs. Two
Teal were flushed here, Coots were common, and Reed Warblers
were seen and heard singing. On the saltings Lapwing and
Redshank were plentiful, and the nest of a Linnet with five
eggs was found on the ground, a site which this species
occasionally uses.