86 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Nest.—Made of reeds and rushes, floating on marshes. 
Eggs.—Clutch, three, rarely four ; varying from pale stone to buff-brown in 
ground-colour, boldly blotched with dark brown, with paler brown spots and grey 
underlying markings; axis 32-34 mm., diameter 24-25 mm. 
Breeding-season—May and June in northern hemisphere. 
Distribution and forms.—Southern Palearctic Region, wandering in winter to 
Africa, India, Java, Celebes and Australia. Mathews in 1912 recorded that the 
birds which bred in China had more powerful bills and longer wings, and therefore 
admitted two subspecies : Chlidonias leucoptera leucoptera (Temminck) from Europe ; 
and C. 1. grisea (Horsfield) for the Chinese race. Only three occurrences from North 
Australia were then on record, but in 1917 thousands appeared in Western Australia ; 
as recorded by Alexander (Hmu, Vol. XVII., p. 95, Oct. 1917), who has given further 
details of the plumages, stating that the females had white tails and a fully coloured 
bird had a black bill. 
Genus STERNA. 
Sterna Linné, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 137, Jan. Ist, 1758. Type (by tautonymy): Sterna 
hirundo Linné. 
Chelido Billberg, Synops, Faunz Scand., Vol. I., pt. 1, p. 193, 1828. New name for Sterna 
Lin. (cf. Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pts. 2, 3, p. 42, Oct. 23rd, 1913). 
Thalassea Kaup, Skizz. Entwick.-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 97, (pref. April) 1829. Type (by 
monotypy): Sterna dougallii Montagu. 
Hydrocecropis Boie, Isis, 1844, heft 3, col. 178, March. New name for Sterna Auct. 
Medium-sized Terns with slender bills, short legs, long wings and very long 
tails. The bill is longer than the head and twice the length of the tarsus, which is 
shorter than the middle toe and claw. The tail is long and forked, the length of 
the streamers more than half the length of the wing. Toes completely webbe& 
the tarsus very short and regularly scutellate in front, reticulate behind, the hind- 
toe small. 
Coloration: black cap, grey back and wings, and whitish below. 
61. Sterna striataa—WHITE-FRONTED TERN. 
[Sterna striata Gmelin, Syst. Nat., Vol. I., pt. 1, p. 609, April 20th, 1789: New Zealand, 
based on Ellis’s drawing No. 57. Extra-limital.] 
Gould, Vol. VII., pl. 26 (pt. xxxv1.), Dec. Ist, 1848. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 4, pl. 109, Nov. 
Ist, 1912. 
Sterna velox Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1842, p. 139, Feb. 1843: Bass Straits. 
Not Riippell, Atlas Reise nord. Africa, p. 21, pl. 13, Cretzschmar [1826 = ] 1827. 
Sterna melanorhyncha Gould, Birds Austr., pt. xxxvi. (Vol. VII., pl. 26), Dec. Ist, 1848: 
Tasmania. 
Not Sternula melanorhyncha Lesson, Descr. Mamm. et Ois. rec. decouv., p. 256, 1847. 
Sterna striata incerta Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIIL., p. 208, Jan. 31st, 1912: Tasmania. 
Sterna striata yorki Mathews, Austral Ay. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 5, p. 86, Sept. 24th, 1914: Cape 
York, North Queensland. 
DisTRIBUTION.—Queensland south to Tasmania. 
Adult male in breeding-plumage.—Head and nape deep black, wings, scapulars, 
back and tail very pale grey ; the outer web of the first primary blackish, paler 
towards the tip, inner webs chiefly white, with a shade of grey near the shafts ; 
secondaries for the most part white, with grey on the outer webs ; tail-feathers 
white on the inner webs towards the base ; fore-head, lores, sides of the face, sides 
of the neck, and the entire under-surface silky-white, including the under tail-coverts, 
axillaries, and under wing-coverts. Bill black ; iris brown ; feet and legs brownish- 
red. Total length 451 mm. ; culmen 40, wing 272, tail 185, tarsus 21. 
Adult female—Similar to the adult male. 
