100 BULLETIN 17 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Chasen^^ assigns all Malay Peninsula records to Sterna longipennis 

 but upon insufficient evidence, it seems to me. Sterna longipennis 

 has an entirely black bill, while in Sterna hirundo tibetana the bill 

 (in the sldn) is light colored basally, probably red in life. The bill 

 in longipennis is longer; the culmen in 10 adults measures 32-39 

 (36) mm; the culmen in 10 adult tibetana, 31-34 (32.7) mm. Un- 

 fortunately the 5''oung of tibetana seem to have dark bills, and I am 

 unable to distinguish specimens of the forms in this plumage except 

 by the bills. I suspect that longipennis migrates more to the east- 

 ward, but I may be mistaken. 



STERNA LONGIPENNIS Nordmann 



Sterna longipennis Nordmann, in Erman's Verzeichniss von Thieren und Pflanzen, 

 p. 17, 1835 (mouth of the Kutchui River, Sea of Okhotsk). 



Three immature males, Nakon Sritamarat, September 20, 1926. 



The culmens in these three males measure: 35, 35.5, and 37 mm, 

 which is too much for tibetana. 



This species breeds in northeastern Asia and migrates along the 

 coasts of China through the Philippines to New Guinea. 



Saunders ^^ records it from Tongka (Junkseylon) and Malacca. 



STERNA ANAETHETA ANAETHETA Scopoli 



Sterna anaethetus Scopoli, Deliciae florae et faunae insubricae, pt. 2, p. 92, 1786 

 (Guinea, error; Philippines). 



Dr. W. L. Abbott had eight birds fly aboard his ship on a dark night, 

 October 9, 1902, 30 miles west of Penang, of which he saved a pair, 

 both immature; previously he had taken an immature female that 

 came aboard his schooner off Malacca, November 9, 1899. He notes 

 it as common everywhere in the Straits of Malacca. 



Williamson ^^ found it breeding on a rocky islet near Koh Phai and 

 on some small islets near Koh Rin, July 17 and 18; later ^* he secured 

 eggs on an islet near Koh Chuan, Inner Gulf of Siam; Robinson " 

 states that it breeds on the Takang Burong rocks off the coast of 

 Pahang, where eggs were taken July 15, 1912. 



The form breeds on islands in the China Sea from Formosa to the 

 Malay States and Siam. 



STERNA ALBIFRONS SAUNDERSI Hume 



Sterna saunder si Hume, Stray Feathers, vol. 5, 1877, p. 324, (Karachi, Sind, India). 



There are two males in the United States National Museum col- 

 lected by Dr. W. L. Abbott at Prahmon, Trang, Peninsular Siam, 

 March 21, 1896. 



•1 Bull. Radios Mus., No. 11, p. 4,5, 1935. 



•> Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, vol. 25, p. 69, 1896. 



»• Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 2, p. 63, 1916. 



'* Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 3, p. 85, 1918. 



« Journ. Federated Malay States Mus., vol. 5, p. 17. 1913. 



