848 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIA A/ BIRDS. 



Mr. Jas. MtDougall, writing from Yorke Peninsula, South Australiia, 

 says ; " I send you two eggs of Stermila nereis, but not the true clutch. 

 These were got in November, 1886, at a sandy point, about two miles 

 from Edithburgh, laid in a depression in the sand or seaweed, a few yards 

 above high-water mark. There are two broods, one in November and 

 one at tlie New Year. Tlie birds are veiy numerous, and hover screech- 

 ing above the head of an intruder, darting at him if he approach the 

 nest too closely. The birds, which are seen seldom, and then only 

 singly, are already beginning to assemble." 



I am inclined to think that the second broods mentioned by 

 Mr. McDougall are merely birds that have laid late in the season. 



Breeding months, November, December and Januai-y. 



649. — Stern.'V sinensis, GmeUii. 

 S. p/iin if(, Gould. 



WHITE-SHAFTED TERNLET. 



Figure. — Gould — Sharps : Birds of New Guinea, vol. v., pi. 72. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. x.w., p. 113. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Legge : Proc. Zool. See, p. 377 

 (1875), also Birds of Ceylon, p. 1021 (1S80) ; Campbell: 

 Southern Science Record (1883), also Nests and Eggs Austn. 

 Birds, pi. 3 (1883); North: Austn. Mus. Cat., app. {1S90); 

 Hume — Gates : Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, vol. iii., 

 p. 312 (1890. 



GengrajihicnJ Dutrilmtinii. — Seas of Northern Teixitory, Queensland 

 and New South Wales ; also New Caledonia, Malayan Arcliipelago, 

 Philippine Islands, China Seas up to Japan, and Bay of Bengal. 



Nest. — Like that of iS'. nereis, merely a slight depression in the sand. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two to three ; roundish or round oval in shape ; 

 texture of shell fine ; surface, slight trace of gloss ; colour. Ught stony- 

 grey, marked with small blotches, spots and splashes of umber and 

 dull grey. Dimensions in inches of a clutch: (1) 1'28 x -97, 

 (2) 1-28 X -98, (3) 1-27 x -98. 



Ohservatidus. — Tiiis other gi-aceful and elegant Tenibt enjoys a 

 more northern habitat, ranging away up to Japanese waters, where it 

 lays. It has been found as fai- south as the northern coast of New 

 South Wales, where it also breeds. 



The "Records of the Australian Museum" (1890), vol. i., p. 39, 

 state : " This bird was found breeding by Messrs. Grime and Yardley, 

 during a visit to the Tweed Hirer heads, on 7th October, 1889. The 

 eggs, two in number for a sitting, were laid in a slight depression in the 

 sajid, all the eggs taken at that time being in an iulvanced state of 

 incubation Skins of the parent birds were obtained 



