430 Mr. H. Whistler on the [Ibis, 



I did not, however, find the eggs until 1 919, when from April 

 to July several birds were frequenting the neighbourhood of 

 the Rivnz bridge. It was clear that foui- or five pairs were 

 settled on a small sand-bank just above the bridge, which 

 was the breeding-place of S. seena, S. alhifrons, J\i/nchops 

 albicollis, and Glareola lactea, but for a long time I could 

 not find any trace of eggs or young. On 1 June, however, 

 I found a nest with one egg, and this nest, when visited 

 again on 8 June, contained two eggs, which I took. These 

 eo-crs measure 45 x 33 and 42 x 32 mm. The nest was a mere 

 hollow, scraped in dry sand under the lee of a small pad-like 

 plant which was growing on a hunnnock of sand in the 

 middle of the sand-bank. I could find no more nests, imless 

 a single unidentified egg belonged to this species ; yet the 

 various pairs of Gull-billed Terns were noisy and fearless, 

 flying low over my head or sitting on the ground. They 

 did not seem to have laid yet. I cannot help thinking, in 

 view of the earlier dates of other Punjab nesting records, 

 that this colony must have started to breed earlier in the 

 season, but had lost its eggs through the w;ishing-away of a 

 sand-bank. 



During the winter months this Tern is of a wanderino- 

 disposition, although ap{)arently not migratory in the strict 

 sense, and may then be found along the canals or at any 

 jheel or pond. The call is a sort of " Kik-kik-kik " in 

 rather the tone of the Punch-and-Judy man. 



Sterna albifrons albifrons Pall. (3 skins.) 



The Little Tern is a summer visitor only to the district, 

 where it breeds on the sand-banks of the Chenab (and 

 doubtless of the Jhelum too). The earliest dates on which I 

 have seen it are 4 April, 1918, and 7 April, 1919. Several 

 clutches of eggs were taken between 18 May and 8 June 

 from the same sand-bank as the eggs of G. nilotica. Here 

 I found these little birds very pugnacious, chasing the other 

 Terns, but at the same time very shy, fljing round at some 

 height and distance, so that it was with the greatest difficulty 

 that I secured specimens. The call is a shrill sort of squeal, 



