BRIDLED TERN. 97 
Nestling in down.—Bufty-white, darker on the throat and paler on the abdomen, 
with an admixture of black on all the upper-parts, except the head. 
Nest.—A depression in the sand. 
£ggs.—Clutch, two; ground-colour stone, marked all over, but more at the 
larger end, with dark purple and brown spots ; axis 63 mm., diameter 45. 
Nesting-season.—March, April, May, August, September, and November. (West 
Australia.) October and November. ({sland in Franklin Sound.) 
Distribution and forms.—World-wide distribution, but forms not yet accurately 
determined, thus : H.c. caspia (Pallas) from the Caspian Sea is in use for all Palearctic 
birds, while the North American H. c. imperator Coues, from North America, though 
obviously a larger form, is not yet acknowledged by American authorities ; there 
may be other recognisable forms, but the Australian H. c. strenua (Gould) from 
Tasmania, is notably larger in all its measurements, the bill noticeably so, while 
H. c. yorki Mathews from North Queensland is smaller throughout, but still large, 
and H. c. oliveri Mathews and Iredale from New Zealand is another smaller race, 
though still larger than the typical form; thus, culmen 71, H. c. strenua 75, H. c. 
caspia 66 mm. ; wing 400 against 420 mm. for the Australian form. 
Genus MELANOSTERNA. 
Melanosterna Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. XV., p. 373, 1846 [ = 1847 2]. Type (by 
monotypy): Sterna aneethetus Scopoli. 
Medium-sized Terns with long bills, long wings, very long tails and short legs 
and feet. The dark coloration, very long tails and incised webbing of the feet dis- 
tinguish this genus. The bill is not twice as long as the tarsus, though long, while the 
tailis more than three-fourths the length of the wing, the outer feathers extremely 
attenuated. The tarsus shows a reticulate surface in front, whereas all the other 
genera of Sternide retain the scutes unbroken. The inner toe is extremely short, 
while the toes are very much incised between the middle and inner toe and only 
moderately so between the outer and middle, which are nearly equal. The claw 
of the middle toe is extremely long. 
Coloration dark above, white below. 
70. Melanosterna anethetus.—BRIDLED TERN. 
[Sterna anethetus Scopoli, Del. Flor. Faun Insub., pt. 11, p- 92, 1786: Philippine Islands, 
Extra-limital. } 
Gould, Vol. VII., pl. 33 (pt. xxxv.), Dee. Ist, 1848. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 4, pl. 114, Nov. 
Ist, 1912. 
Sterna novehollandic Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. 1., p. 161, Feb. 18th, 
1826: New South Wales, based on Watling drawing No. 274, 
Melanosterna anethetus rogersi Mathews, Austral Av. Rece., Vol. II., pt. 7, p. 126, Jan. 28th, 
1915: Admiralty Gulf, North-west Australia. 
Distrisution.—Tropical Australian Seas. 
Adult male in breeding-plumage.—Crown of head, nape, and lores black ; wings, 
scapulars, back and middle tail-feathers dark brown ; small coverts round the bend 
of the wing white ; inside webs of primary-quills paler and becoming white towards 
the base ; this is more especially shown on the secondaries ; outer tail-feathers for 
the most part white, the terminal portion blackish on the inner webs ; fore-head and 
a narrow line over to behind the edge white like the throat, breast, and under wing- 
coverts ; abdomen and under tail-coverts grey ; bill and feet black; iris lead 
colour. Total length 430 mm. ; culmen 40, wing 260, tail 218, tarsus 23. 
Adult female.—Similar to the adult male ; bill and feet black ; iris dark brown. 
H 
