4328 STERNINZ. 
pointed ; tail short and even, or long and forked ; tarsus short and 
slender ; toes short, webbed. 
Genus, Sterna, Lin. 
Nostrils with plumes reaching to the opening; first quills 
longest ; tail forked ; tarsus rather long; bill moderate ; culmen 
slightly curved, and with a projecting angle. 
Sterna caspia, Pall. 
982.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. IT, p. 855 ; Butler, Deccan ; 
Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 439 ; Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology 
of Sind, p. 322. 
THE CASPIAN TERN. 
Length, 18 to 20; expanse, 49 ; wing, 16; tail, 4°5 to 5; tarsus, 
1°75; bill at front, 2°75. 
Bill coral red ; irides brown ; legs and feet black. 
In summer, head above, nape, and ear-coverts, pure black; 
mantle, wings, and tail, pearl-grey ; some of the first primaries 
dark-edged and tipped; back of neck and lower plumage 
white. 
In winter, the head is white, the occiput marked with nume- 
rous black streaks. 
The Caspian Tern is not uncommon during the cold weather 
on the Sind coast; it is much less common further south, 
but extends as far as Bombay, whence Mr. Hume records a 
specimen. 
It is also found inland on some of the larger lakes and 
jheels. 
Sterna anglica, Mont. 
983.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 836; S. nilatica, 
Hass. ; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 31; 
Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 440; Murray’s Vertebrate 
Zoology of Sind, p. 320. 
THE GULL-BILLED TERN. 
Length, 14 to 16 ; expanse, 38 to 40; wing, 13 to 145; tail, 5 
to 6s tarsus, 1°5 ; bill at front, 1-5. 
Bill black ; irides dark brown ; legs black. 
In summer, the forehead, crown, and nape, deep black ; mantle, 
wings, and tail, light grey, paling on the tail ; quills hoary-grey ; 
the first five primaries tipped with dusky on their inner webs ; 
sides of the head and plumage beneath pure white. 
In winter, the head is white with grey streaks, the ear-coverts 
and ‘more or less) round the eyes dusky. 
The young is somewhat similar to the adult in winter plumage, 
but has the primaries all dusky grey. 
The Gull-billed Tern is very common during the cold season 
in suitable places throughout the region. It is very doubtful 
whether any of them remain to breed. 
