508 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 



New Zealand. It occasionally visits Sweden, Denmark, and has occurred at least twenty or 

 thirty times in the British Isles, and has been recorded from Barbados and Wisconsin. [F. c. K. J.] 



WHISKERED-TERN [Hydrochelid&n leuco})areia (Temininck) ; Hydrochdidon hybrida 

 (Pallas). French, hirondette de mer moustac ; German, weissbdrtiye Seesckwalbe ; Italian, 

 mignattino biyio]. 



1. Description. Distinguished in its summer plumage from the other species of the genus 

 by the blood-red bill and the white chin and sides of the face. Length 12 in. [305 mm.]. 

 Top of the head and back of the neck deep glossy blue-black ; mantle, back, wings, and tail 

 light grey ; chin, throat, sides of the neck and upper chest white, merging into the dark slate- 

 grey colour of the lower breast and belly, which is often quite black ; under wing-coverts, 

 axillaries, under tail-coverts, and under surface of tail white ; iris brown ; bill blood-red ; 

 feet vermilion. After the autumn moult the top of the head is black fringed with white, 

 behind the eye is a large patch of black, while the under surface of the body is pure white. 

 The young in down have the feathers at the base of the bill black, the upper parts of a rich 

 fawn colour mottled with black i.e. a scattered patch on the occiput, continued in a line down 

 the head, a line down each side of the back, and patches on the wings; under surface pure 

 white, except the chin and throat, which are black, sharply denned from the white chest 

 and belly, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This species breeds in Northern Africa, from Marocco to Tunisia and 

 perhaps also Egypt ; also in Spain, Portugal, S. France ; occasionally in Bavaria and Bohemia ; 

 in Hungary and the Danube valley; as well as in South Russia north to Poland and about 

 lat. 52. In Asia it is said to breed in Palestine, and does so from Caucasia and Transcaspia 

 east to Turkestan, and from Kashmir to China, but in Australia is replaced by an allied race. 

 In Africa it ranges south to the Cape Colony in winter, and Asiatic birds winter in Southern 

 Asia and the Malay Archipelago. In the British Isles it has occurred about fourteen times, 

 and has been recorded from Barbados. [F. c. R. J.] 



GULLBILLED-TERN [Sterna nilotica Gmelin; Sterna dnglica Montagu. French, sterne 

 liansel ; German, Lachseeschwalbe ; Italian, rondine di mare gambe nere]. 



1. Description. Readily distinguished by its heavy black beak and comparatively long, 

 black legs, which are longer than the middle toe and claw. Length 15 in. [381 mm.]. The 

 adult in its nuptial dress has the top of the head and back of the neck deep black, glossed 

 with blue; mantle, back, wings, and tail pearl-grey: entire under surface of the body pure 

 white ; iris hazel ; bill and legs black. After the autumn moult the head and back of the 

 neck are white streaked with black. The young in down has the upper parts yellowish 

 buff, streaked and mottled with brownish black; under parts white, legs and feet yellow. 

 [w. P. P. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. In Europe local in the breeding season, but nests in Jylland, the 

 Camargue in France, the Marismas of S. Spain, in Bavaria and Hungary (at one breeding- 

 place only in each country), Greece, and by the coasts of the Black, Azov, and Caspian Seas, 

 and north to the Central Urals in Russia. Formerly bred on Riigen and Schleswig. In Asia it 

 nests in Asia Minor, Transcaspia, Turkestan, Persia, the Punjab, and across temperate Asia 

 to Qssuria and Mongolia. In North Africa it breeds in Tunisia, and possibly also in Algeria 

 and Marocco. In North America it nests on the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Texas, 

 as well as in S. America, but Australian birds belong to an allied race. European birds 

 winter in Tropical Africa, and Asiatic birds range south to the Persian Gulf, India, Ceylon, 

 Malaya, and the Malay Archipelago. In America it has been recorded south to Patagonia. 

 In England about twenty-five occurrences are on record, none of them very recent, with 

 the exception of one from the Pentland Skerries, May 7, 1913. [F. c. R. J.] 



