Aden and the Neighbourhood. 23 



appeared behind the shipAvlieii we were about opposite Suakim, 

 and from that latitude until we arrived at Aden we were never 

 without a few in our company. They were perfectly tame, 

 and came so close to the stern of the ' Ancona ' that the 

 colour on the bill was distinctly visible. All were then in 

 full breeding-plumage, watli very distinct hoods. On the 

 return voyage in July the Gulls were still in breeding-dress, 

 but evidently worn and abraded. While we were laying off 

 Aden in quarantine they came round the ' Ballaai*at ' in 

 numbers, often sailing within a few feet of the side of the 

 vessel. Some accompanied us for about a day^s journey up 

 the Red Sea, but they were not met with on our return 

 journey so far north as in May. Although this Gull has 

 been found on the Mekran coast and as far east as Karachi 

 by Mr, Hume, we saw none after leaving Aden. — II. B. S.] 



70. Black-backed Gull. [Larus, sp. inc.) 

 Common in the cold weather. 



71. Great Black-headed Gull. {Larus ichthyaetus.) 

 Fairly common in the cold weather. 



72. Swift Tern. [Sterna bergi.) 



This is here all the year round, I believe. 



[About 460 miles north of Aden, in the Red Sea, we came 

 across a large flock of these Terns in mid ocean, all busily 

 engaged over a shoal of fish. 'Iheir cries could be heard a 

 long distance off, and there were quite a couple of hundred 

 in the flock.— R. B. S.] 



73. Little Tern. [Sterna minuta.) 



Killed at Bundu Manyah, on the Somali coast, on the 

 27th of April, 1884. This species also occurs at Aden. 



There is, I believe, another species of Tern, intermediate 

 in size between the above two species. [This will probably 

 be Sterna alhigena, of which species I saw a pair in the Indian 

 Ocean, about 100 miles beyond Aden, on the 18th of July. — 

 R. B. S.] 



74. Tropic-bird, [Phaethon indicus, Hume.) 

 A cold- weather visitant. 



