BIRDS 192. Common Tern. Sterna fuviatilis, Naumann. This is a bird which occurs in some num- bers at the reservoirs every summer, as many as fifty or sixty being sometimes seen there together. It has also been observed at Elstree reservoir, Royston and Sawbridgeworth. 193. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura, Nau- mann. An arctic tern is said to have been obtained at Tring in the spring of 1886. 194. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. This little bird usually appears at Tring every summer, while it has also been obtained once or twice in the neighbourhood of Roy- ston. 195. Black-headed or Brown-headed Gull. Larus ridibundus, Linn. This gull is a frequent visitor to Hertford- shire, and especially to Tring. It has also been reported from Sawbridgeworth, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, and Heronsgate near Rickmansworth. 196. Common Gull. Larus canus, Linn. So far as Tring is concerned this gull per- haps comes quite up to its name, as it is certainly one of the commonest of the family there. It has also been recorded from Hemel Hempstead, where one was shot towards the end of 1881. 197. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus, Gmelin. Formerly this species was quite a rarity in Hertfordshire, very few specimens having been obtained ; but in the autumn of 1898 Mr. M. R. Pryor continually saw small parties of herring-gulls, accompanied probably by some of the next mentioned species, flying over Weston Manor near Stevenage. This species has also occurred at Tring, Berkhamsted, Royston, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Hertford. 198. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larus fuscus, Linn. This is no doubt the black-backed gull which is seen most frequently at Tring, where birds of that description appear every year, and it is to this species that some of the larger gulls seen going over may no doubt be re- ferred. At Munden there is a lesser black- backed gull, which was obtained there between 1840 and 1850. 199. Great Black-backed Gull. Larus mari- nus, Linn. This bird is stated by Street, the keeper at the Tring reservoirs, to occasionally appear there, and his identification is probably correct, as in his letters he especially differentiates between black-backed and great black-backed gulls. It is not however a common visitor. 200. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.). There are only about four records of this little gull in Hertfordshire. In January, 1885, two were shot at Tring, while in the February following a dead bird was picked up at London Colney. I saw a kittiwake on Berkhamsted Common on May igth, 1895 ; and in January, 1897, one was picked up dead in the Priory garden at Hitchin. 201. Arctic or Richardson's Skua. Stercorarius crepidatus (Gmelin). This bird was first recorded as a Hertford- shire bird from an example which was shot near Stevenage on November 5th, 1881. The only other county specimen was obtained in the following year, at Langleybury, and was presented by Mr. Loyd to the Watford Public Library. 202. Guillemot. Uria troile (Linn.). In November, 1882, a guillemot was shot by Mr. F. Hicks at Elstree reservoir ; while another was shot on the Hertford meads on April 5th, 1888. 203. Little Auk. Mergulus alle (Linn.). This is a wanderer, which is usually found inland only after very stormy weather. The first recorded bird of this species in Hertford- shire was picked up between Baldock and Royston in 1846. In December, 1882, an old bird, which lived some days in confine- ment, was found alive near Langley, about five miles from Hitchin ; and in 1885 a dead little auk was found in a field near Symond's Hyde, Sandridge. On November 22nd, 1 893, a specimen, which had come to grief at the telegraph wires, was discovered between Litlington and Royston, near the latter of which places another, which is now in the possession of Mr. Nash, occurred in 1894. In the following year several were obtained, one being picked up at Sarratt on January 25th, and others being found about the same time near Ashwell, Hitchin and Welwyn. 204. Puffin. Fratercula arctica (Linn.). This marine species has wandered inland to this county on several occasions. In March, 1 882, one was picked up alive at Pirton, near Hitchin, another being caught near Broxbourne in the following month, while in November of the same year a third was found at Preston, also near Hitchin. In 1883 a specimen, which had apparently been injured by the 215
