Le 
STERNA MACRURA. 70L 
uniform ashy grey ; forehead and crown white ; occiput and hind neck 
streaked with black; a black spot behind the eye; under surface of 
body pure white. Wing 8} inches. 
777. SvTeRNA FLUVIATILIS, Nawm. Common Tern. 
Sterna dougalli, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 369. 
We have killed many specimens at different seasons of the year, 
as it is a very common bird, seeking its prey along the edge of the 
surf, or on the marsh at the mouth of the Salt River. Mr. Rickard 
states that they are occasionally common near Hast London at the 
Buffalo Mouth. Mr. Andersson also found the species pretty common 
on many parts of the west coast, and Professor Barboza du Bocage 
records a pair collected in Benguela by Senor Anchieta. He con- 
siders that the South African bird is really distinct from the European 
Common Tern, and that it should bear the name of Sterna macroptera 
of Blasius. 
The following description is a translation of that given by Professor 
Bocage from South African examples. 
Upper part of the head deep black ; mantle ashy bluish ; ramp and 
upper tail-coverts white; lower parts white, slightly washed with - 
grey on the breast and abdomen; the white of the cheeks is pro- 
longed into a narrow white band on the sides of the forehead ; quills 
black, broadly bordered with white inside, and glazed with grey on 
the outer webs, the first quill excepted; tail white, the lateral 
feathers ashy on their outer webs; bill violet black, with the base of 
the lower mandible inclining to reddish brown, and the point reddish ; 
feet violet red ; iris blackish brown. 
Fig. Dresser, B. Eur. vii, pl. 565. 
677. Srerna macrura, Naum. Arctic Tern. 
Sterna brachypus, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 37. 
During a drive late one evening across a marsh formed by the 
celebrated hot spring called ‘Brandt Vley,” near the town of 
Worcester, we observed a Tern, new to us, flying in consider- 
able numbers over a portion of open water. Owing to the 
lateness of the hour, we were unable to stop and procure specimens ; 
but a short time afterwards we received a Tern from Tulbagh, a 
village at the end of the same valley (which is enclosed between high 
mountains), though distant about sixty miles, which we immediately 
