332 LAHIIl.E. 



The egf,'s are usually Iwo, sometimes only one for a silting, varying from oval to swollen 

 and elongate-oval in form, the shell being close-grainetl, smooth and lustreless. They vary in 

 ground colour from pure white to a dull chalky-white and pale creamy-white, over which is 

 distributed irregular-shaped freckles, spots and blotches of brownish, reddish, or purplish-black, 

 purplish-grey, or dark umber, with which are intermingled similar underlying markings of bluish 

 or rich violet-grey, the super-imposed markings predominating on many specimens. Some eggs 

 are freckled or have small spots uniformly distributed, on others the markings consist principally 

 of large blotches or blurs, which are often distributed over the thicker end of the shell; yet 

 again specimens may be found with line short wavy streaks or lines, intermingled with the other 

 markings. Two single eggs, taken on a small island lying off Somerset, Cape \'ork I'eninsula, 

 Northern Queensland, on the loth October, 1886, measure :— Length (A) 1-57 x 1-14 inches; 

 (1!) I'sy X 1-07 inches; these eggs are represented on Plate B. XXV'., figs. l:'. and 11. ,\ 

 set of two in Mr. Thos. I'. Austin's collection, taken on the 17th November, 1901, on Dunk 

 Island, lying to the north of Kennedy Bay, measures : — Length (A) 1-53 x 1-07 inches; (B) 

 1-72 X i-o8 inches. A set of two, taken on the nth ( )ctober, 1907, by Mr. Allan McCulloch 

 and Mr. B. [ardine, from the coarse coral shingle on the shore of a rocky islet lying off .Albany 

 Island, and six miles from Cape York, measures : — Length (A) 1-55 x 1-15 inches; (B) 1-54 x 

 i-ih inches. Two single eggs taken on the same day, measure respectively : — Length (A) 1-62 

 X i-oS inches ; (B) 1-54 x 1-03 inches. A set of two taken by Dr. \V. Macgilhvray and \f r. \V. 

 McLennan, on the 3rd November, 1910, from a nesting place on a bare rock on Bush Island, 

 Torres Strait, measures ;— Length (A) 1-59 x 1-14 inches; (B) i-h x 1-15 inches. 



On the islands of Torres Strait and of those just outside and between the Great Barrier Reef 

 and the north-eastern coast of Oueensland, September and the four following months constitute 

 the usual breeding season. 



Sterna nereis. 



LITTbE TEKX. 



St^.rn.ula nrreU, Gould, Proc. Zool. .Soc, 1842, p. UO ; id., \VU. Au.str., fol. Vol. VII., pk 2'J (1848); 



id., Handbk. Ikls. Au.str., Vol. II., p. 402 (18G.5). 

 Sterna n.^.t-fis, Saunder.?, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 112(I.S9G;; Sharpe Handd. I'.ds., Vol. 

 1., p. 136 (189it). 

 Ainii.T y\.\\jV., in breeding plumage. — (,'eii.i'rid colour above, iuchi.ding the ivinys, delicate silvery- 

 ijreij, paler on- llie rnxip : mantle and qndh ,,f a darker grey ; the outer web of the outermost primary 

 on. ,'Ulirr filde, for fonr-Jifllis of Us leii.i/l/i, al.-<o a aarnnr line ne.d. the .s/iiift of the inner meb blackish- 

 yrei/ .■ upper tail-coverls and tail-feathers ivhite ; a spot in front and a narrow line of feathers around 

 the ei/e, broader above, and the crontu of the head ami na.pe, jet. black : forehead, anterior portion of 

 the lores, lower sides of head, all the under snrface, the umhi- /oini/ and nnder tail coverts pure white ; 

 bill bright yell,, w .- legs and feet orange ; iris black. Total h'ugth ID inches, wing 7-.'>, central tail- 

 feathers '2, outer tail-feathers .'/, bill !•■:, tarsus (>■>!. 



Adult female, in breeding plumage. — Similar iu plumage to tin- nude. 



Distribution.— ^oxi\\-\\ies,\.e:rn Australia, Western Australia, South Australia, \'ictoria, Tas- 

 mania, Islands of Bass Strait. 



/-|^1 1 P: Little Tern is tlie smallest representative of the Sub-family Sternin.t, inhabiting 

 -L Australia. It is found on the shores and adjacent islets in the southern portion of the 

 continent, the islands of Bass Strait, Tasmania and contiguous islands. It is found much higher 

 up the western than the eastern side of the continent, Mr. Tom Carter recording it from as far 

 north as Point Cloates, in North-western Australia. Gould received specimens collected by 



