240 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
the shingle and made my way across the saltings to where I had
seen the Black-headed Gulls. The large creek again stopped my
progress, but signs were not wanting that the gulls were nesting
on the opposite side, and I noticed that flying among those
overhead were some Common Terns. As time was wearing on I
decided to retrace my footsteps and devote the following day to
seeking the nest of the Common Tern.
My way back to the village led me past the rush-covered pond
which in 1912 had housed the gullery, but the marsh was now
almost completely deserted, although there were signs that one
or two pairs might be nesting. This Gullery, like the Ternery,
has probably suffered by the military occupation. However,
the Reed Warblers were still to the fore in the marsh, also Coots
and Moorhens, and a number of Shovelers were flushed, a
species not found on the 1912 visit.
The next morning, having on the previous day located the
position on the map, I started out in the hope of reaching from
the landward side the place where the Gulls and Common Terns
appeared to be nesting, thus avoiding the large creek. After
threading my way among the maze-like creeks for nearly an hour,
with a couple of hundred gulls shrieking over my head, and dash-
ing at me in characteristic manner, I found a nest with eggs
of the Black-headed Gull and as I progressed the nests were
seen on all sides. They were built on the ground and composed
of the usual mass of material.
Occasionally, amidst the clamour of the Gulls, I could hear
the note of the Common Tern, but it was no easy matter to pick
out the Terns among the very numerous Gulls. Later I found
a spot where several Terns were calling, and as they seemed to
remain much in the same place I sat down to watch. In a little
time I could see several Terns landing, the graceful manner in
which they arch their wings on reaching the ground making it
easy to distinguish them from the Gulls, which are much more
clumsy. Each time the birds were disturbed I noticed that one
or two Terns always returned to the same place. Fixing the
spot by a noticeable object I made as straight for it as the creeks
would permit, and soon found a nest of the Common Tern and
later another a few yards distant. Each nest contained three
eggs. The nests were situated in the midst of the Gullery with
Gulls' nests a few yards distant. I think it is not unlikely that I