444 STERNID.E STERNA 



Length about 9*0 ; wing 6-5 ; tail 2-75 ; depth of fork -75 ; 

 culmen 1-2; tarsus '68. 



The male has as a rule a longer tail ; in non-breeding plumage 

 there is more white on the forehead and tbe streamers are shorter. 



Distribution. Tbe Little Tern is found breeding throughout 

 Europe south of 60 N. latitude eastwards as far as Northern India ; 

 in winter it travels southwards to North, West, and perhaps South 

 Africa. A single example in the British Museum from " Cape seas " 

 presented by Sir A. Smith, constitutes the only record of its occur- 

 rence within our limits. 



769. Sterna saundersi. Saunders' Tern. 



Sterna mimita (nee Linn.), Sclilegel, MRS. P.-Bas Sterna, p. 22 (1868) 



[in part, from Natal]. 

 Sterna saundersi, Hume, Sir. Feathers, v, p. 324-6 (1877) ; Saunders, 



Cat. B. M. xxv, p. 120 (1896) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 163 (1896) ; 



Beiclienow, Vog. Afr. i, p. 67 (1900). 



Description. Closely resembling S. mimita, distinguished by its 

 paler mantle, greyer rump and tail, the blackness of the webs of the 

 three outer primaries on both sides of the black shafts and the very 

 straight bill. 



Bill dusky-yellow, usually black at the tip ; legs brownish- 

 yellow. 



Length 9-0; wing 6-6 ; tail 3-0; depth of fork 1-1; culmen 1-3 ; 

 tarsus *6. 



Distribution. Saunders' Tern, which is little more than a sub- 

 species of the Little Tern, is found along the shores of the Indian 

 Ocean from Burma to the Bed Sea and down the coast of Africa to 

 Natal, Madagascar, the Seychelles and Macarene Islands. 



There are examples of this species from Durban in the Leyden 

 Museum obtained many years ago by M. Jules Verreaux and in 

 the British Museum obtained by Shelley in March. 



770. Sterna fuliginosa. Sooty Tern. 



Sterna fuliginosa, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 605 (1788) ; Dresser, B. Eur. 



viii. p. 307, pi. 587 (1877) ; Saunders, Cat. B. M. xxv, p. 106 (1896) ; 



Beiclienoiu, Vog. Afr. i, p. 53 (1900). 

 "Wide-awake " of Ascension. 



