THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 179 



Abbott collected a pair, May 12, 1917, at the mouth of Trois 

 Rivieres in northwestern Haiti, and an adult male on the fitang 

 Saumatre near Fond Parisien, on May 5, 1920. At Jean Rabel An- 

 chorage, on May 30, 1917, he secured a set of two eggs from a pebbly 

 sea beach just above high water mark. The parent was seen on the 

 nest. These eggs have the ground color light cartridge buff, with 

 the surface dull, not shining. They are spotted rather heavily with 

 Hays brown, natal brown and slate gray, the spots being most nu- 

 merous about the larger end. They measure 30.8 by 23.6, and 31.0 

 by 23.5 mm. Danforth says that F. P. Mathews found a small 

 breeding colony on the beach at the mouth of the Rio Yaque del 

 Norte June 25, 1927, and that least terns were found at Les Salines 

 July 30 and off Saona Island August 10. Bond records them from 

 Fort Liberte, fitang Saumatre, and on Gonave Island. He did not 

 observe them until April, after which they were common. Abbott 

 describes the bill in an adult female in life as yellow, tipped with 

 black, and the feet as yellow with black claws. 



The least tern frequents sea beaches, but also goes inland in suit- 

 able localities, so that it should occur regularly about the lakes of 

 the Cul-de-Sac region. 



This species is easily distinguished as the smallest of the terns. 

 The back is light gray, the crown black, the forehead and under 

 parts pure white. It ranges from 230 to 245 mm. in length. 



THALASSEUS MAXIMUS MAXIMUS (Boddaert) 

 ROYAL TERN, GAVIOTA, PIGEON DE MER 



Sterna maxima Boddaert, Table Planch. BnL, 1783, p. 58 (Cayenne). 



Sterna regia, Bryant, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, May, 1867, p. 98 

 (Haiti). 



Sterna maxima, Cory, Birds Haiti and San Domingo, March, 1885, pp. 178-179 

 (listed) ; Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, p. 82 (Haiti, Dominican Republic).— 

 Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, pp. 318, 323 ( listed ) .— Verrill, Proc. 

 Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1909, p. 355 (Dominican Republic). — Peters, Bull. 

 Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 61, 1917, p. 403 (Puerto Plata, Sosua). — Lonnberg, 

 Fauna och Flora, 1929, p. 100 (Gonave, specimen). 



Thalasseus maximus, Beebe, Zool. Soc. Bull., vol. 30, 1927, p. 138 ; Beneath 

 Tropic Seas, 1928, p. 497, (Bizoton).— Ekman, Est. Agr. Moca, Ser. B, Bot., 

 No. 17, January, 1930, p. 13 (Ratas Island). 



Thalasseus maximus maximus, Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 

 80, 1928, p. 497 (Gonave and St. Marc Channels, Fort Liberte, Etang Saumatre, 

 Lake Enriquillo). — Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 365 (recorded). 



Of regular occurrence ; fairly common ; probably breeds. 



In the Dominican Republic the royal tern was reported as common 

 by Verrill, who collected two at Sanchez, on March 1, 1907, which 

 are now in the collection of J. H. Fleming. Abbott found them at 



