WHISKERED TERN B77 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar in plumage to the male. 
Adult winter, male and female.— Head, neck, breast, 
wing-coverts, and abdomen, white; back, scapulars, and 
tail, grey. 
Immature, male and female.1— Resembles the adult 
winter-plumage, except that the back and wings are mottled 
with brown. 
Beak. Livid red. 
Frerr. Orange-red ; toes only half-webbed. 
TripEs. Dark brown. 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... sae re koe aha 
WING “ Ra ares een ONO 
BEAK ae es ee well 
T'ARSO-METATARSUS mee oes Osea 
EGe Hes) Sahai 
WHISKERED TERN. Aydrochelidon hybrida (Pallas). 
Coloured Figures——-Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. v, pl. 
77; Dresser, ‘Birds of Europe,’ vol. viii, pl. 588, 589; 
Lilford, ‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. v, pl. 3. 
The Whiskered Tern is a very rare and an uncertain 
visitor which on migration has wandered to the British 
Isles. Like the preceding species it has been obtained most 
often in the south-eastern section of England. The earliest 
known capture is that of a bird taken at Lyme in Dorset, 
about the end of August, 1836 (Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, 
3rd Edition). Three years later (September, 1839), one was 
obtained at the mouth of the River Liffey, Dublin. This 
bird is preserved in the Dubin Museum, and is the only Irish 
specimen at present in existence (Thomson, Ann. Nat. Hist. 
vol. xx, p. 170). Since then, specimens have been secured 
! This species may be distinguished from the immature Black Tern 
by its shorter beak, longer toes, and more deeply incised webs; the 
rump and tail are paler, and the wedge of white on the inner web of each 
primary is better marked; tail and the feathers covering the carpal 
joint do not become pure white until the third year (Saunders). 
