LARID.E— THE GULLS AND TERNS. 241 



[6. S. paradisaea. Lower parts deeper gray, almost as dark as upper parts; otherwise 



like S. hirundo, but lateral tail-feathers more elongated. Hab. Circumpolar 



districts, south in winter, in America, to northern United States (breeding as far 



south as coast of New England).] 

 §§. Both webs of outer tail-feather entirely white, or grayish white. 

 [7. S. dougalli. Lower parts delicate "peach-blossom pink" fading to pinkish white or 



pure white in dried skins. Hab. Atlantic coast of United States, West Indies, 



and various parts of old world.] 

 b. Upper parts slate-gray or sooty blackish, the forehead and sides of crown white ; 



six to ten middle tail-feathers slaty or blackish. (Subgenus Haliplana Wagl.) 

 [8. S. fuliginosa. Upper parts sooty black. Hab. Tropical and sub-tropical coasts of 



both hemispheres, north to the South Atlantic (casually to New England) States.] 

 [9. S. anaethetus. Upper parts slate-gray, fading into white on hind-neck. Hab. 



Tropical sea-coasts, north to Florida.] 

 II. Wingless thin 7.00 inches. (Subgenus Sternula Boie.) 

 10. S, antillarum. 



Subgenus THALASSEXJS Boie. 



Thalasseus Boie, Isis. 1822,563. Type, Sterna caspia Pall.,=£. tschegrava Lepech. 

 Sylochelidon Bbehm, Vog. Deutschl. 1830,767. Same type. 



Subgen. Chab. Largest and most powerful of the Terns. Tail much less than half as 

 long as the wing, forked for less than one fifth of its total length; feathers of occiput nor- 

 mal (short and blended, not forming a crest); depth of bill at base eaual to nearly one third 

 the exposed culmen; inner webs of primaries unicolored (plain gray or slaty). 



Sterna tschegrava Lepechin. 



CASPIAN TERN. 



Popular synoniyin. Gannet (coast Virginia). 



Sterna tschegrava Lepech. Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv, 1770, 500, pi. 13, fig. 2.— A. O. U. Check 



List, 1886, No. 64.— Ridgw. Man. N. Am. B. 1887. 39. 

 Sterna cas/tia Pall. Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. 1770,582.— Gmel. S. N. i, pt. ii. 1788, 603.— Laws. 



in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 859.— Baibd, Cat. N. Am. B. 1858, No. 682— Coues. Key, 1872, 



319; Check List, No. 591 ; 2d ed. 1882, No. 793.-Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 680.— 



B. B. & It. Water B. N. Am. ii. 1884, 280. 

 Thalasseus caspius Boie, Isis, 1822, 563.— Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862, 537. 



—Elliot. Illustr. Am. B. pi. 56. 

 Sterna [Thalasseus) caspia Coues, B. N. W. 1874, 667. 

 Sterna caspica Spabem. Mus. Carls, ill. itns, pi. 62. 

 Sterna megarhynchos Meyeb, Tasch. Deutsch. Vog. ii. 1810, 457. 

 Sylochelidon strenuus Gould. P. Z. S. 1816, 21; B. Austr. vii. 1848, pi. 22 (Australia). 

 Thalassites melanotis Sw. B. W. Afr. 1837,253 (type in Cambridge Mus.; examined by H. S.). 

 Sylochelidon balthica et schilling ii Bbehm. Vog. Deutsohl. 1S31. 769, 770. 

 Sterna major Ellman, ZooL 1861, titj. 

 Thalasseus imperator Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. isr>2. .".38 (text; Labrador). 



Sterna caspia, var. imperator Ridgw. Ann. Lye. N. Y. x. 1874,891. 

 Sterna n gia (neo Gamb.) Bidqw. Oni. 40th Par. P77. 639 Humboldl Lake, Nevada). 



Hah. Palaearotlc Region. North Amerioa In general, but very Irregularly distributed; 

 breeding in Labrador, along the Arctio coast, on islands LtLake Michigan and along coast 

 of Virginia and T< Las I Bumboldl Marshes, N\ a. la, numerous; coast of California; Aus- 



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