STEBNA HIRUNDO 343 



Order GAYI^. 



Family LAEID^. 



STERNA HIRUNDO, Linnaeus. 



COMMON TERN. 



Sterna hirundo, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 227 (1766) ; Mallierhe, Fauna 

 Orn. dc I'AIg. p. .34 (1855) ; Loche, Expl. Sci.Alg. Ois. ii, p. 201 (1867) ; 

 Kocnig, J.f. 0. 1888, p. 287 ; id. J.f. 0. 1893, p. 98. 



Sterna fluviatilis, Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. sxv, p. 54 ; Wkitaker, 

 Ibis, 1896, p. 98. 



Description.— Adult male, spring, from Djerba, South Tunisia. 



Forehead, crown and nape jet-black ; mantle, back, scapulars, secondaries 

 and upper wing-coverts pearl-grey ; edge of wings round the carpal joint 

 white ; primaries with the white margins of the inner webs not extending 

 to the tips of the feathers ; the outermost primary with the outer web 

 blackish ; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; tail white with light grey on 

 the outer webs of the feathers, the outer feathers on each side projecting 

 only slightly beyond the others ; chin, throat and fore-ueck white ; breast 

 and abdomen pearl-grey; crissum and under tail-coverts white. 



Iris dark brown ; bill coral-red, and blackish at the tip ; feet coral-red. 



Total length 13-50, wing 10-60, culmen 1-50, tarsus -80. 



Adult female similar to the male. 



In winter the forehead, crown and nape are white mottled with black. 



The Common Tern is to be found abundantly on the South-east 

 coast of Tunisia during the spring and summer months, but apparently 

 does not winter in the Eegency. It breeds on most of the small 

 islands off the above coast, one of its chief nesting haunts being the 

 neighbourhood of the Island of Djerba, where the species may be 

 found in considerable numbers between the months of April and 

 September, after which date it disappears entirely. 



Loche states that the Common Tern is abundant on the Algerian 

 coasts, and, according to Favier, it is to be found in large flights 

 during the autumn migration near Tangier. 



