SANDWICH TERN. 27 



being often very distinct. In one specimen in the British 

 Museum the ground-colour is purplish-buff with brown spots. 

 Axis, i'55-i'85 inch; diam. 1*05-1 "2. 



IV. THE SANDWICH TERN. STERNA CANTIACA. 



Sterna cantiaca, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 606 (1788); Macgill. 

 Brit. B. v. p. 630 (1852); Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 301, 

 pi. 586 (1877); B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 183 (1883); 

 Saunders, ed. Yarrell's Brit. B. iii. p. 540 (1884); See- 

 bohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 272 (1885); Saunders, Man. 

 Brit. B. p. 627 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxix. 

 (1894) ; Saunders, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 75 (1896.) 



Adult Male. General colour above dark pearly-grey, the 

 scapulars tipped with white; wing-coverts like the back, with 

 the bend of the wing white ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and 

 quills darker pearly-grey, especially the primaries, which are 

 frosted externally with dark grey ; the four outer primaries with 

 white shaft, accompanied by a blackish band along its inner 

 aspect to the end of the feathers, the rest of the inner webs 

 white ; inner primaries and secondaries white, with more or 

 less grey on the outer webs ; upper tail-coverts and tail white ; 

 crown of head and nape blue-black, the crest-feathers pointed ; 

 the lower half of the lores, sides of face, sides of neck and a 

 collar round the hind neck, as well as the under surface of the 

 body with the under wing-coverts and axillaries, pure white. 

 Total length, i6'5 inches; culmen, 2-3; wing, ir8; tail, 6-5; 

 tarsus, i -i. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male. Total length, 16-5 

 inches ; wing, 12*0. 



Adult in Winter. Differs from the summer plumage in 

 wanting the black head, the forehead being white, with a black 

 spot in front of the eye ; the crown white, with a few narrow 

 black streaks, and the nape more thickly streaked with black. 



Young. Mottled all over with sub-marginal or sub-terminal 

 bars of black ; along the lesser wing-coverts a band of ashy- 

 grey ; tail-feathers dusky at tips and barred or spotted with 

 black ; bill horn-coloured, yellowish at the base of the under 

 mandible, 



