276 THE FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA. 



1513. S. ancestheta. Panayan Tern. Chiefly small fish and 

 Crustacea (whatever it can pick up from the sea). F. I. IV, 324. 



1514. S. fuiginosa. Sooty Tern. Fish, cephalopods, and 

 Crustacea picked up from the sea. F. I. IV, 323. 



Anous. The Noddies. Mollusca and fatty matter on the 

 water. Jerd. B. I. Ill, 845. Floating mollusca or dead fish or 

 offal on the sea. F. I. IV, 328. 



Larince. " The Gulls are sea birds as a rule, though many 

 of them are found about rivers and marshes, and even inland far 



from water Many of them are migratory Seven species have 



been recorded on Indian coasts and rivers, but whilst all of these 

 occur to the Westward in Sind, only four have been observed in 

 the Bay of Bengal, and but two in Ceylon. " 



All species except L. hemprichi are migratory, visiting India 

 in the winter. L. hemprichi, L. gelastes, and L. affinis are more 

 confined to the sea coast than the other four species. 



These birds no doubt do some damage by destruction of fish 

 on which they largely feed when on the sea coast, but considering 

 the numbers in which these birds occur, comparatively little 

 damage is done, as the fish diet consists largely of dead fish, the 

 birds therefore acting as scavengers. When inland their diet is 

 somewhat different, and then consists to some extent of insects, 

 but chiefly of carrion ; in one or two instances Gulls are undoubted- 

 ly beneficial, and notably L. ridibundus, when found inland feeding 

 largely on injurious insects. If fish manure is used in any local- 

 ity in which these birds are numerous, the manure must be spread 

 and dug or ploughed in immediately, or it will be found that the 

 greater proportion, if not all, of the manure will be taken off for 

 food by these birds if left exposed on the land for even a short 

 time. 



The Sternice or Terns. 



SternincB or Terns haunt different localities. Some seven 

 species are entirely Sea-Terns, and these live for the most part on 

 fish and are therefore possibly injurious to some extent. They live 



