CEYLON RAILS, WADERS, GULLS. AND TERNS. DAT 
2. Back dark brown. 
(a) Wing 10 inches. 
Sterna anestheta (Panayan Tern). 
(b) Wing 11°5 inches. 
Sterna fuliginosa (Sooty Tern). 
IV.—tTail not forked, but wedge-shaped; webs well 
developed ; plumage dark. Genus Anous. 
(a) Size medium; wing 10°5 inches; plumage blackish- 
brown. 
Anous stolidus (the Noddy). 
HyDROCHELIDON HYBRIDA (Blanford, Vol. IV., p. 307; 
Legge, p. 996). 
The Whiskered Tern. 
_ Description—Summer: A black cap on the forehead, 
crown, and nape ; below this a white streak runs from the 
gape of the bill to the nape; upper parts ashy-gray ; chin 
white to pale gray, gradually darkening through slate-gray 
on the breast to sooty-black on the abdomen and flanks ; 
vent, under tail coverts, and wing lining white. The primaries 
in fresh plumage are frosted, otherwise darker than the gray 
of the upper plumage. 
Winter : Upper parts lighter gray than in summer ; all the 
lower part, including the wing lining, are white. The forehead 
is white, the crown white with streaking black spots, which 
begin at a point a little forward of the eye and increase on the 
nape, which is bordered behind by a more or less imperfect 
white collar. 
Young birds are mottled brown on the crown and mantle, 
the plumage gradually changing towards the gray of the adult. 
Bill blood-red ; iris brown ; legs and feet dull red; claws 
black. 
Length 10; wing 8:75; tail 3:25; tarsus 0:9; bill from 
gfe 1-6. 
Distribution —Common all round the coast, also on marshes, 
tanks, and paddy fields inland, chiefly in the northern half of 
the Island. Abundant throughout India and Burma. Occurs 
