Birds of the Jhelum District. Ill 



by the end of January it is well on its way into breeding- 

 plumage again, though it is not going to nest much before 

 the beginning of June. It looks as if the winter plumage 

 in these Terns is only held for a sbort time, and may, 

 perhaps, correspond with the eclipse plumage of Drakes. 



To sum up, then, the sequences of plumage in this species 

 so far as I am able to trace them : — 



The juvenile plumage, which is of the usual type and 

 roughly resembles that of the Sandwich Tern, is moulted 

 some time during the autumn, and the bird attains its first 

 winter plumage, in which the crown is brown with grey 

 edges, uuderparts white, mantle pearl-grey, and it has short 

 streamers and the tip of the bill dusky. From the following 

 March onwards a slow and irregular moult takes place, some 

 new black feathers appear in the crown and odd black feathers 

 on the belly, and the bird does not breed ; by June the bird 

 is moulting everywhere, including wings and tail, and gets 

 a new white belly and long streamers, while the dusky tip to 

 the bill is now lost ; by October the underparts, at all events, 

 have been moulted again, and the bird now has the belly 

 black and is adult ; this plumage is carried through to the 

 following year, and the bird then breeds. About June the 

 black belly and head is moulted to a white, and the wings 

 and tail are shed with the rest of the body-plumage ; this 

 white phase is only held for a short time, and by October 

 the bird is again in breeding-plumage. 



I am much indebted to Mr. F. W. Smalley for his kindness 

 in going carefully through the series in the British Museum 

 and making notes for me. — C.B. T.] 



Sterna minuta. The Little Tern. 



Not common, and probably a summer visitor only, breed- 

 ing on the sand-banks. First noted on April 3 and not 

 seen after July 12. 



Rhynchops albicoUis. The Indian Skimmer or Scissors- 

 bill. 



802.2.8.1913. Jhelum. S- Wing 382 mm. 



A summer visitor to the river in small numbers: first 



