284 GULL-BILLED TERN. 



THE GULL-BILLED TERN, STERNA ANGLICA, Mon- 

 tagu. Hirondelle de mer hansel, Temm. Gull- 

 billed Tern of British authors. This tern, very rare 

 to the British list, was distinguished by Colonel 

 Montagu in his Supplement, and Mr. Yarrell states 

 that he has heard of two examples killed in 1832, 

 one of them in Kent ; but it may be considered as 

 of accidental occurrence even in temperate Europe, 

 and its breeding places have not been described. 

 AVe have had no opportunity of seeing foreign spe- 

 cimens, but many authors that we ought to have 

 reliance on give it a very extensive range. Mr. Au- 

 dubon and Mr. Selby consider Wilson's marsh tern 

 identical ; Colonel Sykes gives it from India ; it 

 is also a native of the Isles of Sunda according 

 to Temminck, who considers the 8. qffinis to be 

 the same species. In habits it is said to frequent 

 lakes and rivers rather than the open sea, and to 

 resemble more the two next species than those 

 which are more decidedly maritime. The angle of 

 the maxilla is more developed than in the other 

 British species. 



In summer the forehead, crown, and nape are 

 black ; the upper parts, including the tail, grey ; 

 quills with the outer web of the first darker ; the 

 under parts of the body white ; bill, legs and feet, 

 black. In winter the black upon the head is want- 

 ing ; length from fifteen to sixteen inches. 



