The terns have increased to over a hundred this month; from daylight to dark their creaking voices are dinning in our ears. Most active little birds, they are almost continually on the wing, wheeling and diving with wonderful celerity. Their prey being surface-swimmers--chiefly herring-fry at present--necessitate a dive of only a few inches. The young birds, of which there is a goodly sprinkling, though almost as big as the parents, have not yet acquired the forked tail nor the pronounced plumage of the older birds. Awanting also in dexterity, they are being frequently fed by their parents. It is amusing to witness the chagrin of a youngster when, as sometimes happens, an old one has mistaken it for its own offspring, and only discovers the error when about to drop the glistening prize into its gaping mouth. Woe to the gull who dares invade their sphere of operations when following a shoal of “fry”; he is soon put to rout at the point of the bayonet--for their bills are quite as sharp pointed. While stationed in Orkney I have, when in the vicinity of their nests, been “assaulted to the effusion of blood” as the police reports say, their bills easily penetrating my tweed cap. Horses and cattle are driven in mad flight before these bold little birds, they all the while pecking mercilessly till well clear of their nursery. The pleasure steamers which formerly visited the Rock from Leith and Dundee have this summer scarcely made an appearance, possibly the attractions of the Glasgow Exhibition is the cause; as yet, only three visits have been made, and these from Dundee. An hour’s fishing is generally given the passengers by the Dundee steamer. The diversity of tackle with which some of these amateur fishermen are equipped is fearful, and clock-weights, half-bricks, and scrap-iron of every conceivable shape take the place of the ordinary sinker. Closely ranged along the vessel’s sides, one can imagine the result of lines so differently weighted, and should a fish be hooked confusion follows. If the sea happens to be a bit “choppy” many of them may be seen earnestly engaged in compulsorily contributing to the support of their erstwhile intended prey, each drawing his own line of demarcation down the vessel’s side, as if suspicious of his neighbour encroaching on his territory. _AUGUST 1901._