covery 
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LARIDH, TERNS.—GEN. 293, 294. 323 
Gray); S. panayensis of aurnors: Faliplana discolor Cougs, Ibis, 1864, 
392; Lawrence, Ann. Lyc.N. Y. viii, 105; Exxior, pl. 57. sanosrHara. 
293. Genus HYDROCHELIDON Boie. 
Black, or Short-tailed Tern. Adult in breeding plumage: head, neck 
and under parts, uniform jet-black; back, wings and tail, plumbeous; 
_ primaries unstriped; crissum pure white; bill black. In winter and young 
birds, the black is mostly replaced by white on the forehead, sides of head 
and under parts, the crown, occiput and neck behind, with the sides under 
the wings, being dusky gray; a dark auricular patch and another before the 
eye; in a very early stage, the upper parts are varied with dull brown. 
Small; wing 8-9, little less than the whole length of the bird; tail 34, 
simply forked; bill 1-14; tarsus 3; middle toe and claw 14. N. Am., 
chiefly inland, breeding in marshy places. S. plumbea 
Wus., vii, 83, pl. 60, f. 3 (young) ; H. plumbea Lawr. 
in Bp., 864; S. nigra Nutt., ii, 282; Avp., vii, 116, 
pl. 438; H. jissipes Couns, J. ¢. 554. . . FISSIPES. 
294. Genus ANOUS Leach. 
Noddy Tern. Frontal feathers in convex outline on \ 
the bill (the anti, shown by all the foregoing, here jy¢. 095. Foot of Black 
wanting) ; webs remarkably full; tail graduated laterally, aaa 
emarginate in the middle, the feathers broad aud stiffish. Plumage 
fuliginous, blackening on quills and tail, with a plumbeous cast on the 
head and neck, the crown more or less purely white; bill black; length 
15-17; wing 10-11; tail 6-7; bill 1$-1$; tarsus 1; middle toe and claw 
12-13. S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, breeding in vast multitudes ; the nest 
is placed on bushes. Nurv., ii, 285; Aup., vii, 123, pl. 440; Lawr. in 
Bp., 865. A. stolidus and A. frater Couns, 1. c. 558. . . . STOLIDUS. 
Subfamily RHYNCHOPIN A. Skimmers. 
Bill hypognathous. Among the singular bills of birds that frequently excite our 
wonder, that of the skimmers is one of the most anomalous. The under mandible 
is much longer than the upper, compressed like a knife-blade; its end is obtuse ; 
Fic. 206. Bill of Skimmer. 
its sides come abruptly together and are completely soldered ; the upper edge is as 
sharp as the under, and fits a groove in the upper mandible; the jawbone, viewed 
apart, looks like a short-handled pitch-fork. The upper mandible is also com- 
