258 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



killed out of a flock of twelve on Hickling Broad on the SOth of May 1873 

 (Stevenson, ' Zoologist/ 1873, p. 3712) ; and one was shot out of a pair 

 on one of the Norfolk broads on the 10th of June, 1883 (Chase, ' Zoologist/ 

 1883, p. 341). 



There is no evidence to prove that this bird has ever bred in our islands, 

 but the records quoted above lead to the supposition that it formerly did 

 so, and would do so again if the rapacity of bird-collectors would allow it. 

 It is quite possible that it may have occurred more frequently in autumn, 

 since the similarity of its winter plumage to that of its nearest allies would 

 probably cause it to escape detection. 



The White-winged Black Tern is an inland species, and does not differ 

 much in its geographical distribution from the Whiskei-ed Tern. It breeds 

 in South Russia, Hungary, and probably in the delta of the Rhone, but 

 it only visits Spain on migration. Further north it is an accidental visitor 

 to Northern France, Germany, and Denmark, but it is only known to have 

 occurred once in Sweden. It is said to breed in Algeria and in some of 

 the islands of the Mediterranean. Further east it breeds in the plains of 

 the Caucasus, and probably in Turkestan, as it is a regular summer visitor 

 to the rivers, lakes, and marshes throughout the extreme south of Siberia, 

 Mongolia, and North China. The European and West-Siberian birds 

 apparently winter in Africa as far south as Damara Land and the Trans- 

 vaal, whilst the East- Siberian, Mongolian, and North-Chinese birds winter 

 in South China and Burma, occasionally straggling to Ceylon, and more 

 frequently to the Philippine Islands and the islands of the Malay archi- 

 pelago. Accidental stragglers have wandered as far as India, Australia, 

 New Zealand, and, it is even said, to the neighbourhood of Lake Michigan 

 in North America. The White-winged Black Tern has no nearer allies 

 than the Whiskered and Black Terns. 



The White-winged Black Tern resembles the other two Marsh-Terns 

 so closely in its habits that a description of one almost suffices for that of 

 the other. It does not breed so far west as the Black Tern, and is so rare 

 a bird in Western Spain that Irby only met with it once at Gibraltar ; but 

 Kriiper says that it passes through Greece on migration, in company with 

 the Whiskered Tern, late in April. It frequents precisely the same locali- 

 ties as the Black Tern, and often breeds in the same colonies with its ally. 

 Naumann says that on the wing it is more active than the Black Tern, 

 and can easily be recognized amongst a flock of that species by its more 

 rapid and powerful flight. Its notes are said to be very similar to those of 

 its two allies, and, like them, it is principally an insect-feeder. Its nest 

 resembles that of the Black Tern, and, if not built amongst a colony of 

 that bird, is placed in a precisely similar locality in a colony apart. 



Tlie eggs of the White-winged Black Tern are usually three in number, 

 but it is said four are occasionally laid. They are precisely similar to 



