296 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



with it in Northern Guzerat, but I cannot help thinking that he has 

 overlooked it. They breed during March, generally ten or four- 

 teen days before its larger congener, the Indian River Tern. 



Although a good many pairs breed together, yet the nests are as 

 a rule a good deal scattered, and like those of the preceding are hard 

 to discover. The eggs are placed in small depressions scratched in 

 the sand ; the number seems to vary. I found a clutch of four near 

 Neemuch and had another clutch of four brought in, but on the sandy 

 islets of the Indus I never found more than two eggs or two 

 nestlings. 



The eggs are moderately broad ovals in shape, pointed at one end ; 

 they measure about 1'25 inches in length by 0*96 in breadth. They 

 vary in colour a good deal, but are typically buffy, and the markings, 

 consisting of spots and specks, and occasionally blotches, are of a 

 purplish or reddish-brown, with faint underlying clouds of inky-pur- 

 ple. 



They are often found breeding in close proximity to the Indian 

 River Tern. 



Neemuch, March. E. E. Barnes. 



Hyderabad, Sind, Do. Do. 



987 &»«.■— THE WHITE-CHEEKED TERN. 



Sterna albigena, Licht. 



During the cold weather the White-cheeked Tern is very common 

 all along the Coast, from Ratnagiri in the south to Karachi harbour 

 in the north, continuing to be common on the Mekran Coast. They 

 breed on the islands at the head of the Persian Gulf. 



Colonel Butler received eggs of this species from the island of 

 Allah on the 10th June, and as I am indebted to Mr. Hume's 

 kindness for one of these very eggs, I cannot do better than quote 

 his note in full. 



[Colonel Butler received eggs of this species from the Persian 

 Gulf. The gentleman who took them thus writes : — " As requested, 

 I made another trip on the 10th of June to the island of Allah, about 

 40 miles east of Bushire, where the eggs you got were taken from. 

 At low tide it is one island, but at high tide becomes two, from low 

 ground in the centre becoming submerged. Sterna albigena was 



