664 HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPAREIA. 



parts of Hungary, and is not uncommon in tlie gi-eat marshes 

 of the eastern parts of the south of Europe. M. de la Motte, 

 of Belleville, he says, once saw several individuals in a marsh 

 on the coast of Picardy, and shot three of them. It is said 

 to feed on aquatic insects and worms, never on fishes. Mr. 

 Yarrell introduced it to the British Fauna, a specimen shot 

 at Lyme, in 1836, having been sent to him by T. C. Heysham, 

 Esq., of Carlisle. He thus describes it : — 



" The bill is red, inclining to dark brown on the edges of 

 both mandibles towards the point ; the bill rather stout, with 

 the inferior angle of the under mandible prominent, an 

 approximation to the form of the under mandible in the Gull- 

 billed Tern, next to be described. The irides brow^nish-black ; 

 forehead, crown, and nape black ; from the base of the upper 

 mandible, in a line below the eye to the ear-coverts, a stripe 

 of white, forming the whisker or moustache ; back, Aving- 

 coverts, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, uniform dark 

 grey, almost slate-grey ; first quill-feather lead-grey on the 

 outer web, and over a considerable portion of that part of the 

 inner web nearest to the white shaft, the other part of the 

 inner web white ; the outer webs of the other primary and 

 secondary feathers lighter grey than the inner webs ; chin 

 and throat greyish-white ; neck and breast slate-grey, and as 

 dark as the back ; abdomen, thighs, and flanks lead-grey ; 

 under wing and tail-coverts white ; legs, toes, and membranes 

 red, the membranes deeply indented." 



Bill along the ridge 1^ inch; length 11| ; outer tail- 

 feathers exceeding the medial by 1 ; wing from flexure 9^ ; 

 tarsus f ; middle toe f , its claw f . 



