Birds of the Loo-choo Islands. 181 



not differ from two skins from the Straits of Corea (Ibis, 

 1884, p. 176), and agrees with the description of the two 

 Reef Herons from Japan in the Leyden Museum (Mus. Pays- 

 Bas, Ardea, p. 28).. except that in the dried skins the legs 

 are slate-grey. It is remarkable that this bird is not recorded, 

 from any part of the Chinese coast, and only once from the 

 Philippines (Lord Tweeddale, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 551). The 

 white form of this species is not known to have occurred 

 north of the Molucca Islands. 



36. Nycticorax nycticorax. 



37. Sterna melanauchen. 



The Black-naped Tern was found breeding on the coast of 

 China near Amoy by Swinhoe, but an example sent by Pryer 

 from the Loo-choo Islands extends its known range further 

 north. 



38. Sterna sinensis. 



The White-shafted Ternlet, of which Mr. Pryer has sent 

 home a skin, is said by him to be common on the Loo-choo 

 Islands, arriving in spring and leaving in autumn, Swinhoe 

 found it breeding on Formosa; but the Abbe David says that 

 he observed it as far north as Mongolia, and it was probably 

 this species which Radde found on the Amoor and mistook 

 for Sterna minuta. I have already recorded it from Japan 

 (Ibis, 1884, p. 32). 



39. Sterna dougalli. 



Mr. Pryer has sent an adult example in breeding-plumage 

 of the Roseate Tern, a species which has not previously been 

 recorded from the North Pacific. As this bird is not known 

 to have occurred in China or the Philippine Islands, it may 

 be regarded as, to a certain extent, a Malay element in the 

 Loo-choo fauna. Mr. Saunders identified the specimen. 



40. Dendrocygna javanica. 



Mr. Pryer has sent two examples of the Lesser Whistling 

 Teal, which his collector shot in a paddy-field, and said that 

 the birds were abundant. This common Indian species is 

 found throughout the Malay peninsula, and is also recorded 



