284 LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



with black spots. The nests consisted of slight hollows in the sand, with a few sticks 

 gathered round. 



Mr. C. A. Wright, in his List of the Birds of Malta (" Ibis," 1870), mentions having 

 observed one of this species, on the 21st of May, at Fort IMandel Island, which was 

 quite fearless, and repeatedly approached close to the soldiers on guard, who threw 

 pieces of bread to it, which were immediately pounced upon and swallowed. This 

 bird was afterward shot, and ascertained to be a female, with eggs in the ovary in an 

 advanced stage of development. 



According to Yarrell, the Caspian Tern is an occasional visitant of the British 

 coast. Seven instancies of its occurrence there are named, one of which was in Octo- 

 ber, 1825, one in June, 1849, and one in August, 1851. It is also known to have 

 been taken at different times in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Cor- 

 sica, and Sicily. It has also been obtained at Senegal, at the Caj)e of Good Hope, 

 and near Calcutta. 



Eggs in Yarrell's collection — from the vicinity of Hamburg — are described by 

 him as being 2.50 inches in length, and 1.65 in breadth ; of a yellowish stone ground- 

 color, spotted with ash-gray and dark red-brown. The ground-color of the egg of 

 this species in my cabinet is a light grayish drab. The markings are scattered 

 and rather small, of a subdued lavender and raw-umber, of different shades, in some 

 cases being more nearly black. Two eggs — procured at Great Slave Lake by Mr. 

 L. Clarke — measure, one, 2.70 by 1.70 inches ; the other, 2.55 by 1.80. An egg 

 marked as having been taken in Turkey has a ground of a light but distinct drab, 

 with very nearly black scattered and rounded spots. This egg measures 2.44 by 1.80 

 inches. Other eggs from Scandinavia measure as follows : 2.48 by 1.73; 2.55 by 1.72; 

 2.59 by 1.76 ; 2.60 by 1.80. 



Sterna maxima. 



THE ROYAL TERN. 



La Grande TlironddU dc Mcr, dc Cayenne, Buff. Ois. VIII. 346. 

 Hirondelle de Mer, de Cayenne, Buff. PI. Enl. 988. 



Sterna maxima, Bodd. Tabl. P. E. 58 (ex PL Enl. 988). — ScL. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, 567 (criti- 

 cal). — Saunders, P. Z. S. 1878, 655 (do.). — Coues, 2(i Check List, 1882, no. 794. 

 SternM cayennensis, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 604. 

 Sterna cayana. Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 1790, 804, no. 2. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 268. — Aud. Orn. 



Biog. HI. 1835, 505 ; V. 1839, 639, pi. 273 ; Synop. 1839, 316 ; B. Am. VII. 1844, 76, pi. 429. 

 Sterna galericulnta. Light. Verz. DouW. 1823, 81 (type in Berlin Mus. ; determined by H. S.). 

 Sterna erythrorhynchus, Wied, Beitr. IV. 1833, 857. 

 Sterna cristata. Swains. B. W. Afr. II. 1837, 247, pi. 30 (type in Cambridge Mus.; examined by 



H. S.). 

 Sterna rcgia, Gamb. Pr. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1848, 228. — CouES, Key, 1872, 319; Check List, 



1873, no. 562. — Lawu. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 859. — Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 



683. — RiDGW. Nom. N. Am. 1'.. 1881, no. 681. 

 Tluilasseus recjius, Gamb. Journ. Philad. Acad. I. 2d ser. 1849, 228. — Coues, Pr. Philad. Acad. 



1862, 539 (critical). 

 Sterna {Thalasseus) rcgia, Coues, B. N. W. 1874, 669. 

 " Sterna Bcrgii," lixuY, Ovn. Str. Gibr. 1875, 209 (specimen examined by H. S.). 'Not S. Bergii, 



Light. 1823. 



ITab. Tropical and warm-temperate parts of America, north to Long Island, Massachusetts, 

 Great Lakes, Utah (?), Nevada (?), and coast of California ; south to Brazil and Peru. West coast 

 of Africa, north to Tangiers (Dalqleish, "Auk," January, 1884, p. 97). 



Sp. Char. Nearly as large as S. caspia. Bill deep orange-red or orange. Tail quite deeply 

 forked. Adult, in spring : Entire pileum, including occipital crest and upper half of the lores, 



