STEENA. 303 



in others a reddish halo surrounds part of the spot as if the colour 

 had run. 



lu a good many eggs there is a marked zone generally round the 

 large, rarely round the small, end. In some all the markings are 

 very feeble* and washed-out, in others they are very bright and 

 strongly defined. In some, again, they are small and comparatively 

 numerous, while iu one or two eggs they consist solely of three or 

 four enormous blackish-brown and inky purple clouds. The eggs 

 out of each nest are very similar, and can be picked out at once 

 out of a large number ; but the eggs of different nests differ to a 

 remarkable degree, and yet possess a certain family likeness which 

 would, I think, prevent their being mistaken for the eggs of any 

 other of the Terns that breed with us. The eggs vary in length 

 from 1-41 to 1-65, and in breadth from 1-06 to 1-2 ; but the 

 average of thirty-six eggs is T56 by 1-12. 



Sterna fuliginosa, G-inel. The tiooty l\,-,i. 

 Sterna fuliginosa, Gm. } Hume, Cat. no. 992 bis. 



I found this species breeding in enormous numbers at the 

 Cherbaniani reef, but when we visited the place, about the middle 

 of February, almost all the eggs were hatched off and the reef was 

 swarming with myriads of young birds ; with all our care we could 

 only h'nd some thirty of their eggs, and all so hard-set that I only 

 succeeded iu preserving twenty-three of them after a hard day's 

 work. There was no nest or attempt at a nest in any case. The 

 eggs appeared to have been laid about promiscuously in any slight 

 depression, either on the bare coral blocks or on the coarse coral 

 sand between them. There was no separation between this 

 species and the Noddies, and each egg, or pair of eggs, had to be 

 watched until the parent settled down to it in order to make sure 

 to which they pertained, for the eggs laid by both are too similar 

 to permit of their being otherwise certainly separated. 



The eggs of this species are very variable, both in size, colour, 

 and markings. Typically they are moderately elongated, rather 

 regular ovals, somewhat pointed, as a rule, towards the smaller 

 end, but some are of the ordinary hen's egg shape, and a few are 

 markedly elongated. 



The shell is very fine and compact, but has no gloss. The 

 ground-colour varies from white to pinky white, and from this 

 latter to a yellowish pinkish stone-colour. The primary markings 

 consist of large blotches, spots, streaks, and specks of a very rich 

 brown, which on the pinkish eggs is often decidedly red. and on 

 the rest is a sienna-brown (burnt or raw). The secondary 

 markings, which look more or less as if they were beneath the 

 shell, consist of spots and blotches of pale purple, lilac, purplish 

 brown, or grey, the shade varying in different specimens. 



The extent and character of the markings vary much. In some 

 eggs all the markings are small and spotty, in others the majority 



