638 SOOTV TERN. 



California to Polynesia, where the coral ' atolls ' and other islands 

 offer numerous localities suited to its habits ; there are many well- 

 known stations on the reefs which girdle Australia ; and northward 

 we trace it through the Eastern Archipelago to China and the 

 southern part of Japan. It occurs in Ceylon, the Laccadive 

 Islands, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea ; and southward, through- 

 out the Indian Ocean by way of the Chagos group, ISIauritius, 

 Rodriguez &c., to Madagascar. Off the west of Africa a small 

 number frequent St. Helena, and immense colonies, which have 

 been repeatedly described as ' Wide-awake Fairs,' are found on 

 that great volcanic cinder-heap, the Island of Ascension. 



I believe that normally each female only incubates a single egg 

 at a time, but two or even three eggs have been found in the same 

 slight hollow in the soil which serves for a nest, and, owing to the 

 way in which these are collected for eating — 200 dozen being some- 

 times picked up in a morning at Ascension — there is some difficulty 

 in ascertaining the true complement. The colour is pinkish-cream 

 or bluish-white, with an endless variety of lavender and chestnut- 

 red blotches, and the shell is smooth (whereas in the egg of the 

 Noddy — a bird often found breeding in the same localities — the 

 surface is of a rough chalky nature) : average measurements 2 by i'5 

 in. As soon as the young can fly, they and their parents go off to 

 sea, where they feed upon small fish and marine animals ; accord- 

 ing to some observers, this species is crepuscular in its habits. 



The adult has the forehead, eye-brows, sides of the neck, and 

 entire under parts white ; loral streaks, crown and nape deep black ; 

 remaining upper parts chiefly sooty-black, the two long outer tail- 

 feathers white on their outer webs ; bill, legs and feet black. 

 Length t6 in., wing 11 -5 in. The young bird has the under parts 

 sooty-brown ; and the upper surface of a darker hue, with whitish 

 tips to nearly all the feathers except the primaries. 



I have examined a specimen of the Smaller Sooty Tern, S. 

 anccstJieta of Scopoli, which is said — and, I believe, with truth — 

 to have been captured on one of the light-ships at the mouth of 

 the Thames in September 1875 (Zool. 1877, p. 213); the evidence 

 is, however, slightly imperfect. This species is browner on the 

 upper parts, has a longer white stripe over the eye, a greyer tint 

 on the neck, and less fully-webbed feet than the above ; while the 

 young bird has white under parts. 



