STERNA BALENARUM. 705 
the male, jet-black ; in the female this is replaced by black speckles; 
tail very deeply forked; bill rich lemon-colour; iris brown. Length 
(to centre of tail), 163”; wing, 15”; tail, 44’; outside feathers, 8”. 
Fig. Cretzschm. in Riipp. Atlas, pl. 13. 
682. Srerna minota, LD. Little Tern. 
Mr. Howard Saunders states that in the British Museum is a 
specimen of this species from South Africa. 
According to this observer, who is so well known as an authority 
on the Laride, the present species may always be distinguished 
from the other Little Terns by having dark shafts to the outer 
primaries, and by having the rump and tail white. 
Fig. Dresser, B. Hur. viii, pl. 567. 
683. SrerNA BALZNARUM, Strickl. Damara Tern. 
This lovely little Tern is scarce in Table Bay, only four specimens 
having appeared there during the whole of our residence at the 
Cape. We detected them fishing on a little sandy spot called 
Gordon’s Bay, on Robben Island, November 29th, 1867. We 
killed a pair, right and left, and a friend with us knocked over 
another; the remaining one decamped. ‘Their stomachs were filled 
with small ‘“sand-hoppers”? (Crustacea). One specimen had the 
head mottled ; on dissection it proved a female: the other two were 
males. Mr. Andersson writes: “‘ This exquisite little Tern is very 
abundant at Walwich Bay, and on some other parts of the south- 
west coast. It flies in pairs, or in small flocks, uttering harsh and 
rapid cries. It feeds on small fish and crustacea, in search of which 
it explores the creeks and shallows which are left by the receding 
trees. It is swift of flight, and very rapid in its movements. This 
species occasionally breeds at Walwich Bay, being the only Tern 
which does so ; its eggs are deposited in a small hole which it scoops 
in the sand.” Mr. Howard Saunders gives the range of this Tern 
as from Walwich Bay to the Cape of Good Hope, and adds the 
following diagnosis :—“ In this species there is no white frontlet, 
the black feathers coming down to the base of the bill, which is 
slender and black except at the gape; the tail is grey like the 
mantle; and the tarsi and feet are the smallest of those of the 
group ; the shafts of the primaries are white.” 
