Capt. Beavan on various Indian Birds, 403 



River beyond Darjeeling, taking it for a Duck until I knew 

 better. 



975. PoDiCEPS PHiLipPENSis. Little Grebe. 



Mentioned by the late Dr. Scott as having been presented to 

 the Montrose Museum, and procured by him from the river 

 Jumna, near the Sevvalik Hills of the North-west Provinces of 

 India. The species is abundant in Maunbhoom. 



985. Seena aurantia. Large River-Tern. 



Umballah, Nov. 15, 1866. Length 17; wing 10*25; tail 7-75; 

 tarsus '75 ; spread of foot 1*375 ; bill, from front 1*5, from gape 

 2*25 ; extent 32*75 inches. The young (?) bird has a good deal 

 of '' pepper-and-salt " grey mixed on the head instead of pure 

 black as in the adult, and dark wavy edgings to the feathers of 

 the upper part. The bill and legs are of a paler orange-yellow. 



While on the subject of Terns I may mention that I procured 

 a species resembling S. javanica, which, from my description, 

 was apparently unknown to Dr. Jerdon, and which I charac- 

 terized as being, perhaps, his 



988. Sternula minuta. Little Tern.» 



Should it, however, be a new species, I would propose for it 

 the name S. jerdoni, although perhaps it may be S. orientalis, 

 Licht., or that mentioned by Mr. Gould (P. Z. S. 1855, p. 50). 

 It agrees tolerably well with Dr. Jerdon' s description of S. mi- 

 nuta ; but all the dimensions are much larger. I procured this 

 specimen in Burmah at Thatong, near Moulmein, but on the 

 Martaban side of the river, on 1st October, 1865. Its dimen- 

 sions were as follows : — Length 13 inches; wing 10; tail 4*375, 

 the outer tail-feathers exceeding the rest by 1 inch; bill, 

 fi'om front 1*62; tarsus *75 ; irides deep brown, nearly black ; 

 wing extending '75 inch beyond tail. This species is found in 

 considerable numbers on the Thatong creek ; and some (probably 

 adult birds) have the head pui*e black. In the present specimen 

 it is pearly grey, slightly tinged only with black, which becomes 

 more conspicuous on the nape, and extends as a black line across 

 the eye and ear- coverts. The bill is yellow, tipped with black, 

 and the feet a deep orange, with black claws. After reading my 



