xu,-l 



». J 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



379 



Sterna lunata Peale. 



Peale's Tern. 



Pakalakala. 



Four specimens of this comparatively rare species, which is here at- 

 tributed to the Hawaiian Islands for the first time. I have carefully 

 compared them with Peale's type of the species and with a good series 

 of 8. muvthetus and can vouch for the accuracy of the identification. 

 It is closely allied to the latter species, but is easily distinguished by its 

 much grayer mantle, this being in 8. lunata of a shade corresponding 

 to Kidgway's " Gray No. G," while in 8. ancethetus it is brownish slate. 

 The bill of 8. lunata also averages considerably longer. 



This raises the question as to the 8. ancethetus reported from the 

 Hawaiian Islands (Dole's 8. panaya ex Hartl. & Finsch). So far as I 

 can see this record rests solely upon the identification of Bloxham's S. 

 oahuensis being the same as 8. ancethetus. Bloxham's description, how- 

 ever, is that of a young bird, and is clearly referable to 8. fuliginosa and 

 not to 8. ancethetus, as indicated by the following sentences : " Head, 

 neck, and breast, black; * * * belly, and under the wings, dusky white;" 

 while in the young 8. ancethetus the whole under parts are light, this 

 making the chief color distinction of this bird as compared with S.fuli- 

 giiiosa, the young of which is colored exactly as described by Bloxham. 



Measurements. 



Sterna fuliginosa Gmel 



Sooty Tern. 



Ewaewa. 



1788.— Sterna fuliginosa Gmelin, S. N., i, p. 605. 



1826. — Sterna oahuensis Bloxham, Voy. Blonde, App., p. 251. 



1869.— Sterna panaya Dole, Proc. Boston Ac. (nee Auct.) ; Id., Haw. Aim., 1879, p. 56. 



These quotations only refer to the Hawaiian fauna, and are not in- 

 tended for a complete synonymy. They are explained under the fore- 

 goiug species. 



The occurrence of 8. fuliginosa in the Hawaiian Archipelago does not 

 rest on the identification of Bloxham's S. oahuensis alone, for in Mr. 

 Kuudsen's collection there is an adult bird of this species, which can 

 not be very rare on the islands, as Mr. Knudsen seems well acquainted 

 with it, for he says that "the Ewaewa is very much like the Pakala- 

 kala, but is always black on the back." 



